Naruto: The Final Hokage of Peace
by Exinsh
Summary: What if Kyuubi was not as evil as everyone says? What if Itachi Uchiha said completely different words to Sasuke when he killed the Uchiha clan? What if Sakura wasn't as useless as she usually is? What if Naruto awakens bloodline, which will change his life? Strong Naruto with different Rinnegan. Read the story as Naruto becomes the Hokage and leads the world to PEACE.
1. Chapter 1 Origins

**The first 3 chapters will be about how Naruto got his bloodline as well as some other things which will explain a lot of things in the story as well as plot.**

**I will try not to rush everything but I will also try not to make story to go too slow. I know it could be a little boring now, but I promise things will get interesting from chapter 4. -**  
**It's my very first story so I know there will be mistakes so tell me how I could improve**

**Also, I'm not very good at describing people, so I will not describe characters you already know, because they will look the same unless I change something. If I change something, I will describe in much detail as I could. The same goes for original characters.**

**UPDATE 30/11/2012: combined chapter 1, 2, 3 into chapter 1. I really hope I didn't mess anything up. Also, I will update this chapter after some time, to check and improve my writing here. I REALLY hope reviews so far won't disappear Q.Q**

**UPDATE 31/12/2012: re-read this chapter:**

***Gave it a title, *****Corrected some spelling mistakes and some grammar (which I could spot), *****Changed some sentences, *Changed some words in some sentences. Nothing major, but hopefully it will be more pleasant to read. I plan to change the battle scene at the end so it would look more epic.**

**UPDATE 14/03/2013 : the chapter has been beta'ed. All thanks to the beta ^^**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto and I guess I never will.**

_**CHAPTER 1**_

**Origins**

* * *

_**8 years after the attack of the Kyuubi**_

It was a bright and sunny Sunday afternoon in Konohagakure. It was quite hot this time of day as well, but that wasn't such a surprise considering that Konoha is in Hi no Kuni. The birds were chirping and a warm breeze could be felt. The villagers were busy going about their business. Standing atop Hokage tower was Hiruzen Sarutobi, who was the current Hokage. He was looking at his village when a sad smile crept on his face.

"_Minato, thank you for saving our village… if only I could've helped to prevent such a sacrifice. If only people would've _honored_ your last wish."_ He thought.

He didn't have much time to think about the past when he heard someone's steps behind him. When he turned around, he saw his secretary, Yumi. She was an attractive woman in her mid twenties. She had shoulder length brown hair which she kept in a ponytail and she also had narrow dark purple eyes. She wore a white, sleeveless blouse, navy skirt which went to her knees, and pair of simple civilian boots.

"Hokage-sama, Iruka-san requests an audience with you." she said.

Hiruzen looked at the village for one last time and sighed "Send him to my office and tell him I will be there in 5 minutes."

"Very well, Hokage-sama." she replied respectfully, bowed, and left.

"_I wonder what he wants. It's very rare that he comes to see me." _The old hokage thought and after a minute, left.

* * *

**-Hokage's office-**

"Hello Iruka," welcomed the old Hokage "So, tell me, why did you want to see me?"

"Well, umm... I wanted you to sign this." Iruka stuttered, then gave the Hokage a sheet of paper. When the Hokage read through everything, he raised an eyebrow.

"Field trip, huh? Why so sudden?" the old Hokage asked. To be honest, he was quite surprised because he didn't expect the first year academy students to go outside of the village. Usually this kind of field trip only happened in the third or fourth year.

"I decided to do it this year because my class is quite promising. We will be alright: Mizuki will help me watch the kids. And it's not like it will happen tomorrow; I planned to do it after 3 weeks so I can prepare them." Iruka replied calmly. He really believed that his students were the most promising and gifted students in all academy history after the Yondaime.

The old Hokage thought about it for a while. "Very well then, I'll sign this form and allow you to take kids on a field trip. In 3 days time I'll inform the guards about this."

Iruka smiled and thanked the old man "Thank you. I shall go now and inform the kids." Iruka bowed and walked slowly towards the doors.

Before Iruka could exit the office, the Hokage asked, "Tell me, Iruka, how is Naruto?"

"Naruto? Well, Naruto is being Naruto – doing pranks, being a loud-mouth and missing classes. His grades are not high as well." Iruka stopped for a second and thought about something. "But I feel that he is hiding something, like he is acting or it's some kind of facade."

"What do you mean?" the Hokage asked curiously.

"Well, sometimes during lessons when I ask him a question, I can see in his eyes that he knows the correct answer but for some reason he gives me an incorrect one instead. Also, in sparring matches I can see that he has good taijutsu stances, but he never shows how good he is for some unknown reason. If he keeps this up, he will be the dead last. It's still the first year, though." Iruka replied with a sad expression. He knew that Naruto didn't have any family and that he lived alone. That's why Iruka befriended Naruto and acted like an older brother figure to him, but he never helped him in any academy subjects because it would look like favouritism. But it was not like Naruto ever asked anyone to help him. The academy teacher knew what his students were capable of and Naruto WAS capable enough to get good grades.

"Have you talked to him about that? Maybe if you talk to him, he won't act like that and will actually try... Anyway, thanks for telling me this. You may go now." the old Hokage replied with a kind smile.

"Hai, Hokage-sama" the teacher answered and left the room.

Hiruzen looked out the window for a minute and then returned to the nightmare of all Kages – paperwork.

One thought slipped through his mind, _"Be safe."_

* * *

**-Next day in the academy-**

Iruka stood in front of the class, ready to announce the news about the field trip to everyone. He didn't have many students: there were some kids from shinobi clans and some civilian kids. Everyone was talented though, and everyone was ready to go on the field trip. At least, he thought so.

"Okay class, calm down and listen." Iruka called out, hoping everyone would listen. But that wasn't the case. It looked like no one even heard him.

"SHUT UP!" Iruka shouted while he thought _"This happens every single day ..." _The class went dead silent and turned their attention to the teacher. "Ahem... I talked to the Hokage yesterday and-"

He couldn't finish, because Naruto, who sat next to Sasuke, interrupted him "Did he allow you to teach us some kind of cool jutsu?"

"No-..."once again he couldn't finish the sentence.

"Aww… Maybe he will take us on some cool mission?" Naruto asked curiously.

Shikamaru had enough of Naruto's shouting. "Oi, Naruto. We're not even Genin so no one will take us on any kind of mission. And we will not learn any jutsu until next year because we haven't started to learn how to mold and use chakra. So calm down and listen what Iruka-sensei wants to say and let me sleep. Geez."

"Fine! But just because YOU don't know how to mold and use chakra doesn't mean everyone else here doesn't know how to!" Naruto replied angrily.

Shikamaru glanced at Naruto in curiosity, _"I'm sure that no one here knows how to use chakra even for a simple Bunshin. Maybe he meant that HE can do that… I doubt it, though." _After that, he decided not to bother himself with this topic.

But he wasn't the only one who shared his thoughts. Ino, who had overheard Naruto's conversation with Shikamaru said, "Naruto, I'm sure that no one here knows how to properly use chakra, even for simple Bunshin. The academy starts teaching it in the second year and those who are from a shinobi clan start learning it from their parents when they turn 9 years old. So don't say such stupid things, baka."

"Tch, whatever…" the blonde muttered.

But Iruka knew better - if Naruto said something like that, then Naruto really meant it.

And true to Iruka's thoughts, Naruto started to do tree climbing exercises in his free time. He could stand on a tree for an hour, but he kept improving.

Weeks ago, Naruto snuck into the shinobi section of the library and read a scroll about chakra control. Well, that had been the first scroll he could get to before the librarian noticed him.

The librarian (whose name was Akihiro) wasn't a bad person and didn't treat Naruto like other civilians; he had read books about Fuuinjutsu and knew some basics of the art of sealing. But still, he followed the rules and didn't allow civilians to go into the shinobi section, which was why he just asked Naruto to not ever go there until he become a ninja or he (Akihiro) would have to watch Naruto's every step in library. Naruto didn't want to lose Akihiro's trust and apologized. Akihiro allowed Naruto to keep the chakra control exercise scroll with one condition – to return it when Naruto mastered all the exercises. Seeing Naruto's joyful smile, the librarian smiled as well.

Back to the classroom.

Iruka decided not to think about Naruto at that particular moment. Instead he said, "As I _tried _to say before," He then sternly looked at Naruto and continued, "I talked to the Hokage yesterday and he has given me permission to take you on a 2 day field trip."

Immediately he mentioned the word '_field trip_' everyone started shouting and discussing it with others. Well, not everyone was happy.

Some random civilian girl, whose name was Aiko, started to protest "Eew, but there are those disgusting bugs," when Shino heard this, his eyebrows twitched. The girl didn't notice it and continued, "And where will we sleep? And what about food? And where will we wash ourselves and-..."

Naruto interrupted her "Oi, Aiko, shut up! Bugs are very useful allies in battle!" he then looked at Shino, who was a bit surprised that Naruto defended him, and nodded to him in silent thanks. Then Naruto turned back to Aiko "And you are soon to become ninja. When ninjas go out on missions, they will have to sleep outside in almost every mission and find food in the forest if they want to survive."

Iruka nodded in agreement. "Yes, Naruto has a point there. And it's not like you have to go. If you don't want to, no one will insist."

"_Maybe he's not such an idiot like he acts… troublesome…"_ Shikamaru thought. Maybe he will talk to Naruto later to find out for sure whether he is an idiot or not. He wasn't the only one with similar thoughts.

"_So he isn't such an idiot like he wants everyone to believe. I knew something was not right about him._" Sasuke thought, then looked at the shouting Naruto and smirked.

"SHUT UP!" Iruka yelled and received attention from students "There are still some things about this field trip you need to know. First, you have to ask your parents to sign this form if you want to go," he then gave everyone their forms and continued, "You have until the end of this week to hand it in. Secondly, the field trip will be 3 weeks from today, on Wednesday, and we will be back on Thursday afternoon. So don't forget to take supplies for a 2 day trip. Now, you are all dismissed for today."

With this, everyone nodded and ran out from the classroom. It was not every day the instructor allowed them to go home early, so they didn't need to be told twice. But there was one person who didn't go with everyone else. One Naruto Uzumaki. He sat in his seat with a sad expression on his face.

"What's the matter, Naruto?" Iruka asked with a small, warm smile. He already had an idea what was bothering the blonde student.

Naruto looked at the teacher and said "Well, no one's waiting for me anyway so I don't have to hurry. Besides…" he then looked back at the desk "…I don't have parents who can sign this form."

Iruka saw how sad Naruto was and he didn't like to see him like that. And he knew what could brighten Naruto's mood. Although he was sure his purse wouldn't like what he was going to do.

"Come, Naruto. I will treat you to Ichiraku ramen and once your mood lifts, we can discuss what we can do about this form."

"YAYY! RAMEN!" Naruto shouted and ran out of class "Come on, Iruka-sensei!"

Iruka chuckled and watched with amusement and wondered how just a single bowl of ramen can change Naruto's mood. Or two bowls… or three… or … Oh Kami.

* * *

**-Later at Ichiraku Ramen stand-**

As Naruto ate, he and Iruka had a light talk about various things. When Naruto finished his last bowl for today, which was the 6th, he turned to Iruka with some kind of sad expression.

"So, what about this form? I can't go with everyone, right?"

"Well, that's not a problem. I can ask Hokage-sama to sign the form for you. I don't think he will mind. He will understand your situation." Iruka answered with a smile.

"Really? Oh man, Hokage-jiji is awesome." Naruto was very happy. The Hokage always took care of him when he could, and the Hokage was one of the first persons who acknowledged him. "I will be become as cool a Hokage as the Sandaime is and I will surpass the Yondaime! Believe it!"

Iruka sighed _"And just a while ago you were all sad and depressed. This ramen is like a cure to you..."_

"That's quite a dream you have there, Naruto." said Teuchi, the stand owner, as he came out from the kitchen.

"Yeah! When I become stronger and become Hokage, everyone will acknowledge me!"

"Naruto… being Hokage is not just about being acknowledged, but about protecting the village and your loved ones with your life and making it better for everyone. And you can become even more powerful if you have precious people to protect." Iruka said. Really, he was amused by his dream. Naruto still had a lot of growing up to do if he wanted to accomplish this dream.

"Huh?" was all the answer Naruto could give to what Iruka said.

Iruka sighed "Never mind… You will understand it later. But if you want to be a Hokage, you must train really hard. If you continue to do pranks, skipping lessons and not paying attention in class, you won't get far in your ninja career."

"I know, Iruka-sensei…" Naruto had a thoughtful expression. He then decided to ask "Is it true that no one my class can use chakra properly?"

"Yeah, we start to teach kids how to use chakra in the second academy year. Why are you asking?" Iruka asked curiously.

"Well… to tell you the truth, I'm doing chakra control exercises now. I can climb the tree now, but I still need to master it. I can stay on the tree without using arms for 3 minutes. It is not enough in case if I need to fight while using tree climbing. And before I start doing water walking, I need to master tree climbing. But for some reason my chakra control is so poor. Also, the librarian told me to meditate to find out what my chakra flow is and I found out that my chakra reserves are too big for an academy student. In the beginning, I thought it was normal, but when I read some books, I was quite surprised… for now, I have reserves for an average Chunin. I don't know how that's possible, but I'm more than happy for it."

Iruka was very surprised. He didn't expect to hear those words from Naruto. To hear that he had been doing tree climbing exercises and was doing very well. He had always thought Naruto was only doing pranks in his free time.

Naruto saw the look on Iruka's and grinned "I'm not stupid, Iruka-sensei. Yes, in my free time I do pranks so people would notice me, but I also use my free time to go to library and read some books there. It is VERY boring, but I have to do it if I want to become a good ninja, right?".

"Naruto, I didn't expect this from you.. Heh, you surprised me a little bit." Iruka said.

"Are you sure I surprised only for '_a little bit'_?" he replied with a wide smile.

"Okay, okay, you got me. You surprised me a lot. But why do you act like a idiot in class?"

Iruka knew he asked it in the rough way, but he wanted to just know why Naruto acted that way.

"Well, most of the things you teach in calss I already know from the books. And it's just so fun to prank you and make you angry in the front of whole class. And besides, I don't want to look better than anyone else. I could even become arrogant at the end of the academy if I felt I was better than the rest of the class." He honestly answered. In public he always seems to be dumb and a loud-mouth while in reality he was quite focused and determined. "Thank you for your treat, Iruka-sensei, but it's already late. See you tomorrow in academy. Oh, and please don't tell anyone about what we talked about today."

Before Iruka could say or ask anything else, Naruto was already gone.

_"Oh well, at least I know he is alright on his own. At least now I know some of the reasons for his acting… if those can be called reasonable."_ Iruka thought. He then finished his bowl and headed home in order to prepare for tomorrow's lessons.

* * *

**-3 days later, in the forest near Konoha-**

In the forest near Konoha, a small camp was set up which was well hidden between brushes and trees so it wouldn't be too easy to find it. It was night now. There was a small campfire – big enough to cook and small enough to stay hidden. From the faint light of the campfire, you could see two small tents which were big enough for one person in each. Also, there were three figures standing near the campfire. It was too dark and the campfire didn't give much light to see their faces or what they were dressed in.

One of the figures asked "Are you sure about this?".

The figure was apparently male. He had a rough voice and he looked muscular. It was too dark to see more details.

The second figure then spoke "Of course I'm sure. The Hokage himself allowed it. Old fool, he should know better than do something so foolish."

It didn't have as rough voice as the first figure, but it also belonged to a male. In a dark night you could see that he wasn't as muscular as the first one and he had shoulder length hair.

"It was indeed foolish to allow this… _'trip' _when the class has so many promising students. Especially those heirs from the clans. If your information is correct, we will get a nice amount of money once we capture some of them, although our priority is the Hyuuga heir. What was her name? Honata… no… Hunata… no that's not it… Hinata… yeah, Hinata, that was her name, right?"

The third and a final member of the band was a female. She had a beautiful voice, that kind of voice which singers usually would have. She had long hair which reached her shoulder blades and which she kept in a ponytail. Although it was dark, you could see a large bust she had. It wasn't as big as one of the sannin member had, but still in some years...

The first one nodded and turned to the second figure "What if there will be more ninja guarding them?"

"What, you scared, Shigeru? My, I thought you're tougher than that.." the female of the band laughed at her team mate.

"Shut up, Ryoko! Think with your head, not with those watermelons of yours," he then pointed at Ryoko's large bust and continued, "What if more ninjas appear? While we are strong, we can't take on a lot of ninjas at once. We need to find out how many ninjas will be there with the kids."

The female frowned when Shigeru pointed at her bust. She really didn't like when someone noticed these… _"globes"_ and made comment about them.

She wouldn't admit it, but her team mate had a point. They couldn't face many ninjas at once, because while they were fighting, the kids could escape or someone might call for reinforcements.

"Whatever…" was the only thing she could say in reply.

Then the second figure spoke. "Don't worry. There will be only two ninjas with them. One is Iruka Umino. And the second is…" he then grinned evilly, "Well, tell you the truth, the second ninja who will lead them is me."

He then took out a map of a nearby area around Konoha and pointed at one place in the forest, near the river. "This is where me and Iruka will lead them, you just have to set up the traps here. Once the fighting starts, don't worry. Iruka isn't much of a fighter – being an academy instructor for so long, he lost some skills over the years."

The three then discussed the plan and agreed to it.

"It looks perfect. And those kids won't fight back – they don't teach them a lot in the first year after all." Shigeru answered, while he held his chin in his palm.

"Yeah. Well then, you should return to Konoha so no one notices your absence. In the meantime we will rest and prepare for this _'operation' _" Ryoko said and with that she stood up, and gracefully walked to her tent.

"Very well then." Said the second figure and he too left the scene.

While he was heading back to the village, only one thought slipped through his mind _"Well, soon enough I will get the Byakugan and hand it over to Orochimaru who will reward me with that power he promised. And I should also kidnap that demon brat and sell it to another major village. Hehe, I will be rich and powerful in no time."_

With that, he had very malicious smile as he walked towards the village. For now, everything was perfect.

* * *

**-2 days before the trip-**

Today wasn't as sunny and hot day as it usually was in Konoha. Dark clouds covered the usually bright sky. It didn't start raining yet, but it looked like it will start any minute now. Also, it seemed the weather affected the villagers - there weren't as many smiles as usual and everyone tried to finish their business as quickly as possible in order to get back home earlier. No one wanted to stay out for too long.

Things weren't better in the Academy. The class was unusually silent and the students listened to Iruka's lessons. Although one couldn't say 'unusually silent' about one Nara kid - he always sleeps. Even the usual loudmouth, Naruto, didn't do any pranks or disrupt the lesson. Iruka wasn't complaining. Although he liked that his students paid more attention to him and he didn't need to shout to silence them, still, the eerie mood unnerved him a bit. He was used to the loud class and seeing them like this was a bit scary. Well, as scary as it could get with class full of 8 year olds.

Now when the lesson came to an end, he decided to brighten up the mood a bit. What he was going to say would definitely bring joy to his student's faces, "It is almost the end of the lesson," he then stopped, looked at his students and saw some smiles. He then continued, "But before you go I wanted to announce two things... It's about the trip, so listen carefully."

"The first thing is... there is too many of us and I don't want to scatter you all around the forest in your own tents. So you will need to share with others. Let's see... those who have bigger tents will need share with those who have smaller ones. It will also help you to look out for each other, almost like an experienced Genin team. I would say one 'team' should consist of 2 to 4 members. Also, there will be some team games while on the trip with a prize to winners."

The moment he finished speaking, the class's mood was far better than it was - everyone started chatting and making 'teams'. Iruka didn't mind it and allowed them to sort out the teams after which he said, "Listen up! I will give you 20 minutes to sort out the teams. After you're done, you need to choose a leader of the team and come to me so I can write down the names."

* * *

'It will be so much fun! They could sleep in one tent and do so many things together; they won't have to be by themselves. They could share the food!' That was the summary of everyone's thoughts. But Naruto wasn't one of them. He had a somewhat sad and disappointed expression on his face. _"Oh man, this is just great... I don't have a tent at all and nobody will want to share with me. Hell, I don't even have normal friends here. At least no one here is glaring at me like the others in the village do..."_

And he wasn't the only one with those thoughts. Sasuke, who sat next to Naruto, was thinking almost the same. _"Great. Although I have a tent, I don't want to stay by myself. And I don't have any friends here either so no one will invite me."_ Well, except for his fan-girls, if they could ever be considered friends. And he would never go to them. Never. Ever. Even if it was the end of the world.

The Uchiha clan were a very arrogant clan. As far as Sasuke could remember, he was always taught that the Uchiha was the most powerful clan in Konoha, as well as their Sharingan, their kekkei genkai, is the most powerful dojutsu(2) and most powerful bloodline. His father, Fugaku, always said _"Don't pay attention to the lower class people. They are not worth our time. We are elite, so we will associate ourselves only with elites"._ Although he didn't like what he heard, he knew better than to argue with his father, so he just agreed with him. He thought people should treat each other equally and that kind of attitude will only make enemies. At least he had his brother with him, Itachi, who had the same thoughts as Sasuke.

Itachi was a very loving brother and always helped Sasuke with his training whenever he could. He didn't like his clan either, he actually despised them, although he didn't show it. The only thing the Uchiha (except him) were interested in was power. Any and everything for more power. Itachi tried to ensure that Sasuke knew that it was alright to be friends with classmates, but Sasuke was still afraid of his father. What if he found out somehow and then punished him for associating with 'lower class' people? Itachi could understand the feeling. After all, Fugaku was the head of the Uchiha clan. That's why Sasuke acted unfriendly towards everyone. If someone asked him something, he would answer, but he would never start a conversation on his own. Itachi vowed to Sasuke that someday he could enjoy his life and make friends just like everyone else.

Sasuke then put those thoughts aside and tried to find a solution to his problem. He turned his head to the right and saw Naruto's gloomy facial expression _"Oh, that's right... Naruto doesn't have much friends either. Maybe-..."_ Before he could finish his thoughts, he heard someone call out to the blonde.

"Oi, Naruto!" someone shouted.

Naruto turned to find who had called him. After some seconds he saw Shikamaru's intent gaze. He (Naruto) then figured out it was him (Shika) who called.

"What is it, Shikamaru?" He asked.

"Well... me and Choji decided to ask if you would like to be on our 'team'." He simply answered, still looking at Naruto.

The blonde was surprised. He didn't expect to actually be invited to a team. He thought he would be left out like he usually was. But Naruto knew better than to blindly trust anyone, even his classmates. His life at the orphanage taught him that.

"Why me? I'm sure there are many others who would like to be on your team. Besides, I will just slow you down when we will set up a camp and I probably will embarrass you with my behavior." he replied carefully.

Choji, who stayed silent the whole time, finally spoke. "You're not so bad Naruto. It's actually funny to see all those pranks and your jokes."

"But-"

"Oh shut up, Naruto. Stop acting. I know you're not as stupid like you want everyone to think. And words you just spoke prove it."

Now, this caught Sasuke's attention.

"Huh?" Naruto muttered. _"Did I say something wrong which was out of my academy character?"_ he wondered.

Shikamaru rolled his eyes. Did he really need to explain it him? _"Troublesome..."_ "The loudmouth Naruto which you usually pretend to be would have accepted this offer immediately and he would be confident about his abilities. He also wouldn't say that 'behavior' crap as well. And it's not like you have any choice anyway - I don't think anyone else will invite you."

_"Argh... I knew it! If someone could figure out I was acting, it would be the Nara and their brains. Thank Kami no one's paying attention to our conversation..."_ Naruto thought with some worry in his eyes, oblivious to the fact that Sasuke was also listening. "Fine, I really don't have much choice, right?"

"Right. Also, we want you to be our team leader." Choji said.

When his ears caught the words 'you' and 'team leader' in one sentence, he was shocked. He was surprised at first when he was invited to a team, and now said team wants him to be their leader?! It was too much for his poor brain. "What? Why me? I'm not sure if I'll be good enough for you guys." he asked with surprise.

_"So he puts others in first and doesn't care about himself... interesting." _Shikamaru thought and then answered. "Yes, we want you to be our team leader. Firstly, I'm too lazy to be one, Choji doesn't fit for this role either. Secondly, it's not some kind of dangerous mission or anything - just a field trip with some team games. And I'm sure it will be fun with your attitude." With that, he smiled, bringing out his ace. "And finally, you need to practice some leadership skills if you want to be Hokage, right?" Now Shikimaru was grinning like madman._"Checkmate."_

"Ugh, fine. As you said, it's not some kind of mission so I can do it. Nothing will happen to us anyway. But using my dream against me was unfair." He then looked at the smiling Shikamaru and asked "But don't say anything to anyone about my acting. Please." He really didn't want to show his true personality to others. He wanted it to be a surprise when they actually became ninja. And although shouting about how he was going to become the strongest Hokage ever was part of his acting, part of his 'mask', it was also his sincere dream.

"Sure. Besides, I would like to know you better. For now, you're one big, blonde mystery and I hate mysteries. Want to be our friend?" Shikamaru asked and Choji just nodded, showing that he didn't mind having another friend.

Naruto was VERY happy._"Finally! I can have some friends!" _he thought. For as long as he could remember, for some reason, other kids always stayed away from him and didn't let him play with them.

But before he could answer, they heard someone screaming. When they turned their heads to see who screamed, they saw a group of Sasuke's fan-girls arguing about something. Then all the girls looked at Sasuke, and to his utter horror, they started to run towards him and shouting "SASUKE-KUN! Join my team!" and "Sasuukee-kuun! Don't listen to her, join me!". The leader of fan-girls was none other than Ino. And right beside her was Sakura, her rival.

If there was something Sasuke really didn't like, it was fan-girls. Why? First, they only cared about their looks and couldn't make interesting conversation. Secondly, for some unknown reason, they were always shouting; it brought headaches. And Sasuke somehow always knew what they were planning to do.

Before the girls could reach Sasuke and 'claim' him, he set his escape plan in motion.

"Shikamaru! Can I join your team?" he urgently asked while shedding anime tears.

Shikamaru was a bit surprised, because Sasuke had never showed so many emotions - fear, hope and desperation all at the same time. But he understood his situation, he would have done the same thing in his place.

"Troublesome... Ask Naruto, he's team leader. I don't mind though, I know how dangerous fan-girls sometimes are. But my tent is only for 3 people so somebody will have to bring a bigger one." he answered with small smile.

"Don't worry about the tent - I have one big enough for 4 people." Sasuke urgently answered and looked at Naruto with pleading eyes.

Naruto wanted to agree - the more the merrier. But at the same, he didn't want to, because as far as he knew, Sasuke wasn't very friendly. But as we all know, he was not the kind of a person who said 'no' if someone needed his help.

"Fine, I don't mind. But be friendly at least and don't ignore us when we speak to you." Naruto answered.

Sasuke just nodded. _"Maybe now I could make some friends on this trip and my father wouldn't know about it." _he thought with a smile. "Thanks, guys. You really saved me from those... banshees."

Right after he finished that sentence, the just mentioned 'banshees' finally reached 'their Sasuke-kun'. Before they could start to shout and scream, Naruto said "Sorry, girls, but Sasuke is already on my team."

The girls looked at Naruto with confusion and one civilian family girl frowned and said "Oh, please. Who would like to be on _your'_ team? Ha, even if you could be in a team, no one would allow _you _to be a team leader," and then she laughed and continued with a sweet voice "So, Sasuke-kun, would you-"

But before she could finish, Sasuke angrily interrupted, "Shut up. It's true, I'm on his team already and he IS the team leader." He really hated when someone sounded superior to someone else.

"B-b-bu-but why? W-Why would YOU like to be on a team with t-t-that... t-that... d-demon. My mum always says he is a d-demon." she stuttered. She was shocked to see such a reaction from 'her Sasuke-kun'.

"And here it starts again..." Naruto muttered.

But Shikamaru heard him. _"Demon? Is that the reason why he doesn't have any friends? Why would parents say such things?" _Shikimaru thought curiously. But today wasn't the day he could ask them any question in the matter.

"Demon? Is that why you show your superiority over him?" Sasuke asked angrily. He wasn't in the mood to argue with fan-girls. Besides, it was pointless anyway, because they would agree with anything Sasuke said (and that was one more reason why he didn't like them). "Listen, I really don't like girls like you, so I wouldn't have joined you anyway. I mean, all you care about is how you look and your obsession over me. If you're going to continue like this, then I suggest you quit the _'ninja'_ academy, because _IF_ you become a ninja, you will be dead-weight on a team and you will die quickly on a mission."

"B-But-"

"Begone. You annoy me." He turned away from them and didn't say anything else.

_"Wow, that was rough, but I can't disagree with him. And it's also is the first time I've seen him saying so many sentences in one day." _Naruto thought and chuckled. Others were a bit surprised as well - it's the first time they saw this side of Sasuke.

The girls went to their seats with aura of depression over them. They had never expected this reaction from 'their Sasuke-kun'.

Just after this little scene was finished, Iruka called the team leaders to write down the names. He was very surprised about Naruto, but at the same time he was happy for him. He deserved to have some friends.

"Okay, listen up now! Before you go, there is something else I wanted to announce. Those who are going on the trip don't have to come to the academy tomorrow, in order to prepare. But those who are not going to the trip will have to attend academy tomorrow, Wednesday and on Thursday."

Half of the class was happy and the other half was not happy for obvious reasons.

"Why do we have to attend the academy while everyone else will is relaxing?" someone asked.

"This field trip is not about relaxation. It will be a real field experience for them. Also, they will have lectures, too. Me and Mizuki will not be in the academy for the next 3 days, so those of you who are not going on the field trip, listen carefully. Your lessons will be held in room 213. The teacher there already knows about this. Oh, and for those who are going on the trip - don't forget to be be here on Wednesday at 9.00 am or we will leave without you and you will have to attend the academy. That's all. See you on Wednesday. Class dismissed."

As everyone started to head out of the class, Naruto nervously asked his companions "H-Hey guys. D-Do you want to meet tomorrow so we could buy supplies for a trip and hang out a bit?" It was the first time in some years he had asked someone to hang out with him. He thought they wouldn't come, but this time, it wasn't the case.

"Sure, why not? Tomorrow we don't have academy so I don't have anything else to do, anyway. I could stay home but my mum would force me to do more troublesome things." Shikamaru answered.

"Yeah, why not? I don't have anything to do tomorrow, either." Chouji said.

Naruto was VERY happy. For the first time in his life, someone accepted his invitation. He then turned to look at Sasuke and asked him, "What about you, Sasuke? Wanna come?"

Sasuke looked at Naruto, but then turned away so no one could see his sad expression. "Sorry... but I can't. My... _father_ will need my help tomorrow in some matters." He lied sadly. His father didn't need any help. Ever. He just wouldn't be allowed to hang out with 'low class people'. And the only clan they didn't consider 'low class' was the Hyuuga clan. But the Uchiha hated the Hyuuga clan more than anything, because the Hyuuga were their so called 'eternal rivals' or something.

Naruto and Shikamaru noticed the scowl on Sasuke's face when he mentioned his father and decided not to push the matter.

"Okay then. Let's meet tomorrow in the nearby park at 11.00 am. See ya, guys." Naruto said happily and went home.

"Yeah, bye." Choji and Shikamaru answered and went in the other direction.

* * *

**-Same day, Uchiha compound-**

"What do you mean you're on a team in this field trip?" Fugaku, Sasuke's father, asked his son after hearing about everything Iruka had said.

Fugaku had long, dark brown hair that reached down to his shoulders and onyx-colored eyes, with visible creases below them (like Itachi has). He wore a black shirt with the Uchiha symbol on the shoulders, grey pants and a black, open-front apron with white diamonds on the bottom.

Sasuke sighed and answered calmly. "Father, please answer me who is better? A group of civilian fan-girls or a group of kids from ninja families?"

"Why are you asking? Of course those from ninja families. Fan-girls are a pitiful excuse for female ninja, I bet they don't even know what a kunai is."

"There you go, father. When I saw a group of fan-girls heading in my direction, I demanded to be part of the most promising team." Sasuke calmly answered.

"You demanded to be part of the most _'promising'_? Heh, I like that, son. Remember to show your team how grateful they should be that you're with them. Dismissed."

"Very well, father." Sasuke said and left the room.

_"That went better than I imagined. Thank Kami he didn't ask who is on this team. I can't believe he is my father... If only mother was here." _Sasuke sadly thought.

He then remembered the day he saw his mother for the last time.

_(Flashback 3 years ago)_

"Be a good boy and listen to your brother. Here, take this lunch box and share it with Itachi." Mikoto said while giving young Sasuke his lunch box.

Mikoto was a fair-skinned woman with long, black hair with bangs hanging on either side of her face to roughly frame her cheeks and black eyes. She wore a simple dark purple blouse with a red-plum skirt and a light-yellow apron over it.

Sasuke took the lunch box and said "Thanks, kaa-san. When will you return from your mission?"

"I don't know. Maybe after 2 days, maybe after 4 days. It depends on many circumstances." she answered.

"Okay then. Love you, kaa-san."

"Aww, love you too, sweetheart." she said with sweet voice and kissed her son on forehead, after which Sasuke and Itachi went outside.

-After 3 days-

It was late evening. After some light training, Sasuke and Itachi returned home. There, they saw a crowd of people talking to their father. It didn't look like anything important to them, so they just ignored the crowd and walked to their rooms. After a quick shower, Sasuke heard his father calling for him and his brother. He quickly dried himself, changed clothes and headed to the kitchen.

When he arrived in the kitchen, he sat next to Itachi. In front of him sat Fugaku. Sasuke wondered where his mother was.

"Sasuke... Itachi..." Fugaku started the conversation with an emotionless face.

"Where is mother? Did something happen to her?" Itachi asked, worry in his eyes.

"Your mother... is dead." Fugaku answered without any sadness in his eyes, but he sounded sad.

"What? NO! It can't be true. You're lying." Sasuke shouted, tears forming in his eyes.

"I'm sorry, but it is true. We found her dead this morning with a kunai stabbed into her heart. After we found her, we returned to the village. We presume she was killed during her night watch by enemy ninja."

"No... It can't be true..." Sasuke quietly said, his eyes full of tears. Itachi wasn't faring any better. He had tears in his eyes, though not as much as Sasuke had - he could control his emotions better.

_"Mother... "_ Itachi thought, remembering all their happy times together. But then he realized something _"Something is not right here. Even if one squad member was killed while on a mission, they wouldn't abandon the whole mission. They would have sealed the body in a scroll or waited for reinforcements to take body and then continue with their mission."_ He thought, but he decided not to speak his concerns. He will do his own investigation later.

"In 2 days time there will be funeral for her. Please, be ready." With that, Fugaku stood up and left the kitchen, leaving his two sons to mourn their mother's death.

_(Flashback end)_

A single tear fell from Sasuke's eyes when he remembered the painful memory.

_"No, my mother wouldn't want me to cry. She wouldn't like me to mourn forever."_ Sasuke thought and wiped away the tear and headed to his room to get some sleep.

* * *

**-Next day-**

The next day was much warmer and brighter than the previous one. Shikamaru, Choji and Naruto were walking around the village and were having a light chat on various topics. The group was receiving hateful glares from the villagers. It wasn't the whole group who received them, though... It was the one blond kid in the group who received all the glares. And Shikamaru noticed it.

"Hey, Naruto. Why everyone is glaring at you? What did you do to them?" Shikamaru asked curiously.

Naruto put his hands behind his head showing that he was quite relaxed and answered the question of his new friend "I don't really know. As far as I can remember, I've always received them. I'm used to them now."

"Strange. If you didn't do anything, why would they look at you like that?" Chouji asked while munching his crisps.

_"Is it about the demon thing that other girl talked about yesterday? I will need to ask dad later."_ Shikamaru thought.

As they continued to wander around the village and continued their chit chat, they decided to buy some supplies for tomorrow's trip. Now they stood in front of a grocery store and were ready to head in when Naruto stopped them.

"You guys go ahead and buy the stuff we about discussed before. I'lll wait for you here."

"Umm, Naruto. Don't you want to come in with us?" Choji asked and gave Naruto a confused look.

"Well, I want to go, but they will just throw me out. And if we will go to shops where I'm allowed in, they will just overprice everything for me. They say it's some kind of tax, but I don't quite believe them. But there's nothing I can do about it." Naruto answered without a care in the world.

"WHAT?" both Choji and Shikamaru asked. They were completely shocked after hearing that.

"But how do you live? I mean, do you have enough money to feed yourself?" Choji asked. He couldn't help but to be a bit worried for his new friend.

"Hokage-jiji always gives me a monthly allowance. When I receive the money, I carefully plan on what I'm buying so I could survive the month."

"You don't have any parents, right?" Shikamaru asked. After he received a nod from Naruto, he continued "Why aren't you in the orphanage, then?"

Naruto didn't want to tell them, but they were his new friends after all. And it looked they were worried about him. "Well, when I was 5 they kicked me out."

Shikamaru widened his eyes and Choji stopped eating his crisps. But before they could ask anything else, Naruto continued "And I'm happy they did. I wasn't treated very well there anyway. Look... I don't want to talk about this, so please don't ask anymore. And please don't say anything to others."

Both Choji and Shikamaru nodded in agreement and decided to ask him later, when he will open up more to them.

"C'mon, Choji. Let's go and buy the supplies while Naruto is waiting here. Naruto, meet us here after 20 minutes, ok?"

"Sure. See ya later, guys" Naruto waved to friends and decided to walk around the village for a bit, ignoring all the glares.

**-20 minutes later-**

As Naruto came closer to the meeting spot, he saw Shikamaru and Choji already waiting. He greeted them and decided to browse through all the goods they bought.

"Okay... You bought everything we will need for tomorrow." Naruto said. After that, his stomach growled. indicating it was time for lunch. Naruto smiled sheepishly and rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment "Right... Wanna come and grab a bite to eat before we go home?"

Choji smiled "Sure, why not?" he answered. "Where to?"

"Let's go to Ichiraku Ramen. It's the only place I'm treated with kindness." Naruto answered with a sad smile.

Both friends didn't want to argue, seeing Naruto's sad expression, so they just agreed. And they didn't mind ramen either.

**-At ramen stand-**

"Hi Teuchi-jiji, Ayame-san." Naruto greeted Ichiraku Ramen stand owner and his daughter who also worked there. Both of them were very kind to Naruto and didn't see him as the 'demon brat' as others did.

"Hey, Naruto." both of them greeted.

"How are you?" Ayame asked.

"I'm fine, thanks. I've got a field trip tomorrow, so me and my new friends bought some supplies. We're in one team for this trip." Naruto answered with happy face.

"New friends? Care to introduce them?" Ayame curiously asked the blonde.

"Yeah. The lazy looking one is Shikamaru Nara and the one who is eating crisps is Choji Akimichi."

"Nice to meet you. I'm very happy for you, Naruto. You finally made some friends." she said with a warm smile.

Then they took their seats with Choji sitting next to Naruto and Shikamaru next to Choji.

"So whatn are your orders?" Teuchi asked.

"One miso ramen please" Shikamaru said.

"The usual, five bowls of miso ramen." Naruto said with big smile. Ramen was his favorite food and today he could spent extra for it.

Choji was surprised at Naruto's large order and took it as an unspoken challenge and ordered six bowls of beef ramen. It was his pride as an Akimichi to out eat anyone no matter the circumstances.

After 20 minutes of eating and chatting, Choji couldn't take another bite.

"I can't believe it... someone ate more than I did." Choji said to Naruto with respect. Almost no one could out eat an Akimichi and just now Naruto did it like it was a piece of cake.

Shikamaru was surprised as well. _"So Choji is not the only one with black hole for a stomach... troublesome."_

"Well, ramen is my favorite food after all. Teuchi-jiji, one more bowl of miso ramen please. It will be the last for today." Naruto said.

Choji couldn't believe Naruto had ordered another bowl. He had eaten 10 bowls and Naruto is ordering 12th... "Naruto. It doesn't mean I will lose next time!" he said in a challenging tone.

Shikamaru cried anime tears and said "Why do all my friends have to eat so much? Why does no one else enjoy sleeping or watching the clouds as much as I do?"

Choji and Naruto laughed at their friend's antics "Someday, you will meet that kind of person, Shikamaru,"

They then paid for their food, said goodbye to each other and went home.

* * *

**-Next day-**

It was a sunny Wednesday morning. Although it was a bit cool, it was still pleasant. In front of the academy stood many student separated into groups of twos, threes and fours. Everyone had bags and backpacks and everyone was yawning.

"Good morning, class" Iruka greeted them.

"Morning, Iruka-sensei."

"Now, I will call your names and check who's here and who's not. I will start with team leaders. After I call your name, you have to step forward." After that was done, he continued "Now I will call others. When I call your names, you have to join your team leader." After 5 minutes of checking, "Okay, everyone's here. Let's move out. We're heading to the village gates."

After that was said, Iruka moved forward with students behind him, and behind the crowd of kids were Mizuki.

No one noticed the malicious smirk on his face.

* * *

**-Near the village gates-**

"So, when do you think we will reach our destination?" Naruto asked his companions, trying to make light conversation while they were walking.

"How should we know if we don't even know where our destination is? But I think in one or two hours we should be there." Shikamaru answered.

"Shikamaru has a point, Naruto. Iruka-sensei wouldn't select a place too far away from the village, because we are not ninja yet and most people here can't keep walking for more than 2 or 3 hours without rest." Sasuke answered with a smile. He was happy he could finally talk with someone and not have to be afraid of his father.

"Hey Sasuke *munch*, how come you're actually *munch* talking with us?" Choji asked curiously while eating his never ending bag of crisps.

"Yeah... and you're smiling too. Something's wrong here. Now who are you and what did you do to the brooding Uchiha?" Naruto added with a small chuckle.

Sasuke's eye twitched in annoyance. "Just because I don't talk in class and act like '_brooding Uchiha_' doesn't mean I'm one."

Shikamaru rolled his eyes and sighed _"Geez. My class is full of clowns and actors. I sometimes wonder if this really is a ninja academy and not some theatre school."_

"Oh really? Then why do you act like 'brooding Uchiha' when you can easily make friends like everyone else?"

"..."

"There you go!" Naruto laughed.

"What about you? I'm sure if you didn't act like an idiot, you could make friends as well" Sasuke answered with a victorious grin as he saw how it silenced Naruto. But he failed to notice the sad expression on his face.

It didn't go unnoticed by Shikamaru and Choji.

"Shut up, idiot!" Shikamaru whispered so Naruto couldn't hear him. When he saw Sasuke's confusion, he decided to elaborate "Do you remember what that girl said to him yesterday in class?" After getting a nod from Sasuke, he continued, "Then it shouldn't be that hard to realize why exactly he didn't have friends. For some reason, parents tell their children to stay away him."

After hearing that, Sasuke's eyes narrowed. He then whispered back to him "I thought it was the way she showed her superiority over Naruto."

Choji shook his head "No. *munch* He told us yesterday *munch* he was treated that way *munch* ever since he can remember *munch*. But he *munch* doesn't know why."

"Yeah. And we saw how villagers were glaring at him yesterday when we met up."

"Why would anyone do that to him?" Sasuke asked.

Shikamaru shrugged. "No one knows. But this topic is a bit painful for that troublesome blonde."

When Sasuke looked at said blonde's face, he saw an expression of pain and sadness. Almost the same expression Sasuke sometimes sees in a mirror. He then realized, Naruto had it worse than he did.

Naruto, oblivious (as always) to the whispering, decided not to think about his past and changed the topic "Hey, guys, wanna pull some pranks on sensei or the other kids?" he asked while grinning like mad.

Sasuke smirked and was relieved at Naruto's sudden change of mood. Shikamaru and Choji just smirked, showing they agreed with him.

* * *

Unknown to them all, even for the two Chunin, they were followed and watched; They were followed by a man wearing a weasel mask, indicating he was an ANBU member. He was none other than Itachi Uchiha. He wore black pants, short-sleeved shirt and grey chest armor, metal arm guards and gloves. He also had a simple sword on his back.

He was happy seeing his brother laughing with his classmates. Sasuke would have been able to do that long ago if it weren't for their father. Just thinking about their father made Itachi frown.

He then remembered why he was there.

_Flashback. 1 day before the trip._

"You summoned me, Hokage-sama?" Itachi asked the leader of their village.

Hiruzen looked at Itachi with tiredness present in his eyes. He then poofed out a cloud of smoke from his pipe and answered,"Yes, Itachi. I have a special mission for you. Well, it's more of a request than a mission."

Itachi raised an eyebrow, curious at what the Hokage would ask of him. "And what would it be?"

"As you may know, the kids in the academy have a field trip." When he received a nod from Itachi, he continued, "I want to ask you if you could keep an eye on them until the trip ends."

Now Itachi was curious why the Hokage would request such a task. After all, there would be two Chuunin with the kids. "But why, Hokage-sama? From what I've heard, this trip is not far from the village and there would be two Chuunin with the kids. Why should an ANBU watch them?"

"You have a point there, Itachi, but my intuition tells me something is going to happen. Maybe I'm just being paranoid - 8 year old kids outside the village and most of them are clan heirs... a lot can happen." he poofed another cloud of smoke "Still I can't get rid from this feeling, that's why I want to give them some extra protection. Just in case if something happens." Hokage answered.

"I see. Very well, I accept your request. It will also be interesting to see how my brother interacts with others." Itachi said with a small smile. He really wanted to see if Sasuke could still make friends after so much time without normal socializing.

"Thank you. Make sure to stay hidden... Also, do not interfere unless it's a life and death situation. I feel something's going to change in this trip... Something very important is going to happen."

"What do you mean, Hokage-sama?"

"I do not know, Itachi. Interfere only if it is life and death situation, understood?" the old Hokage ordered with power behind his words, showing why he was still the village leader.

Despite Hokage's tone though, it didn't affect the young Uchiha genius. He was a professional and only few things could scare him. "Hai, Hokage-sama. I will leave now and prepare for the 2 day trip."

When Itachi received a nod from his leader, he left, still wondering what old Sarutobi meant.

_"I still can't shake this feeling."_ the Hokage thought. And when he saw a pile of papers in front him, he frowned _"Ugh... this paperwork will kill me one day."_

_Flashback end_

_"I still can't see what can go wrong here. But if Hokage-sama is right, then I better keep my eye on them."_

Itachi then focused on his mission (if this could be a called a mission for an ANBU captain) and continued to watch the kids while he was trying to keep hidden. Well, he didn't need to try after all... They were only a bunch of kids and 2 Chuunin.

* * *

**-Back with the kids-**

An hour and a half had passed since they left the village. Now the kids and the two teachers were standing in a nice forest clearing surrounded by trees which was lit by sunlight. The shadows from the trees gave a mysterious and beautiful sight, One could hear various birds chirping and singing from the trees as well; you could even hear the bubbling of a stream or a small river nearby. The water gave off a nice and fresh smell in the clearing, while the sound of the rushing water also gave off a relaxing sensation. If one looked closely, one could also spot some forest animals between the bushes: rabbits, small foxes, squirrels and many more wild life. The kids widened their eyes when they saw the beautiful clearing, smelled the fresh air and saw the wild animals. Never in their lives had they seen something so beautiful - not even in Konoha. They were happy they went on this trip. The kids hoped this will be the place they will stay.

_"Perfect spot!" _Iruka thought, with a large smile while breathing the fresh forest air, free from village's various scents. "Okay, listen up! We'll make our camp here. I want each team to set up their tents in 30 minutes. Make sure you're not very far away from other teams. Then we will have a 1 hour break, where we will eat and relax. Then for 3 hours you will have a lecture with me and Mizuki-sensei here and some light activities. After that, we will have our first team game. Is that clear?"

"Hai, sensei." everyone said in unison.

Iruka smiled and continued "Do not wander too far away from the camp or you will have to spend the rest of the trip near me. Now, go prepare your tents."

With another 'Hai' in unison from everyone, the kids started to unpack their bags and start building their tents. The first team to complete this task was none other than Naruto's team. They did everything in 10 minutes in which Naruto showed great organization and leading skills (as great as an 8 year old could have), where he assigned his teammates various tasks: Sasuke and himself were setting up the tent, Choji went to gather some dry logs, or sticks or whatever ccould burn, while Shikamaru set up the fireplace and put food on table (if a wooden plate on two wooden logs, which Choji brought, could be considered a table). Their small 'camp' was not too far from forest, next to a large tree – the largest in the clearing. Naruto chose this place, because he knew his friend Shikamaru liked to watch clouds. It was more comfortable to lay on a tree branch and stare at the sky than lay on the ground. Anyway, they were quite happy they finished first, that meant they had more free time, which they used to chat and get to know each other better.

The second team, which finished in 14 minutes, was Shino's team, consisting of Shino, Kiba and Hinata (isn't it ironic). They were not far from Naruto's team. Kiba took care of finding something to burn, seeing he had the most energy, Shino was setting up the tent, while Hinata was busy doing her magic near the fireplace and preparing the food. After everything was done, they decided to explore the beautiful clearing. Shino was interested in bugs, obviously; Hinata was wondering if there would be any medical herbs in the forest. She had a book in her hand with various pictures with plants. Kiba... well Kiba was being Kiba - running around and trying to come up with something fun to do.

The third team, which finished in 19 minutes from the start was Sakura's team, consisting of Sakura, Ino and two random girls whose names were Sayu and Hinagiku. Naruto's team were impressed, especially Sasuke. They expected this team to finish the last and complain about whatever fan-girls could complain about in the forest. Well, Sayu and Hinagiku were complaining and didn't do much. Both of them got the food, setup the fireplace and just sat there, waiting for something, while Sakura was setting up a tent with a victorious smile and Ino was searching for wood with a frown. The reason for that was because Sakura and Ino were arguing about who will set up the tent. Why they were arguing, no one will ever know. But it seemed Sakura won. Now both girls were searching for 'Sasuke-kun' to spend more time with him (to Sasuke's horror), while the other two were just sitting near fireplace and waiting for something to happen. At least now Ino and Sakura didn't call Sasuke theirs. They agreed to spent more time becoming a ninja, hoping it will get Sasuke's attention, but they were still the fan-girls.

It's a good thing that Naruto's team were hiding in their tent so the girls wouldn't find them. To be more precise, wouldn't find Sasuke. The other kids managed to complete their task before 30 minutes had passed.

"Okay, time's up! Those who didn't manage to set up everything, you will do it later. Now everyone come here so we can begin our lesson." Iruka shouted so everyone could hear him.

Almost everyone frowned and then sighed. Even outside of the academy they would get their lessons. Someone even muttered 'troublesome'. You can try and guess who it was.

As the kids gathered in front of their teachers, Mizuki decided it was the time to set his plan in motion. He secretly made some hand signs behind his back so no one would notice them. After that was done, three figures behind the trees saw the signs and started their plan. They quickly did half dozen hand seals in complete sync, ended on the ram seal and muttered **"Release"**. After that was done, the area in clearing where everyone was, slowly filled with invisible chakra. This chakra came from four seal tags that were placed around the clearing. Also, there was a well hidden fifth seal not far from kids. The fifth seal attracted chakra from the other seals, thus leading chakra to clearing. But it that wasn't the only purpose of the 5th seal. One of the figures did another set of hand seals and calmly said **"Silent dream!". **After that, the 5th seal glowed a bit and all the chakra in the area was filled with various drugs.

Everyone in the area suddenly felt tired and their eyelids became heavier. Most of the kids were already on the ground, sleeping. The only ones left standing were Naruto, Iruka, Mizuki, Sasuke, Shikamaru and Shino. Although the latter three were barely fighting back the sleep, after a moment they all collapsed, unable to continue. On the other hand, Iruka wasn't affected because he had some experience by being a Chuunin and felt the genjutsu, he dispelled it and Mizuki did the same. Naruto was feeling a bit tired but he also could fight back, thanks to demonic chakra mixed with his normal one, thus this kind of genjutsu didn't work on him_*1*_.

* * *

"_So Hokage-sama was right after all. But I can't intervene now, I need to find out who attacked them and why."_ Itachi thought.

He reduced the distance between those who were still standing and suppressed his chakra as much as possible in order to stay hidden.

* * *

"What the hell?!" shouted Iruka. "Mizuki! Check the perimeter and send word to Hokage-sama, meanwhile I will check on kids!"

"That won't be necessary." Mizuki replied, grinning. Three figures then jumped from the forest side and stood next to Mizuki. After that, they took off their cloaks and showed themselves.

To the right of Mizuki stood a female (Ryoko). She had a round face, narrow, green eyes, and brown hair which reached her shoulder blades, which she kept in ponytail. She wore a long, green chinese style dress with slits on the either side for easy movement, which reached a bit past her knees. Under the dress she had a mesh armor and tight shorts. Also, she wore a simple pair shinobi sandals. She had a shuriken holster attached to her right thigh for easy reach.

To the left of Mizuki stood a muscular man(Shigeru). He wore a pair of shinobi sandals, ANBU pants which reached his ankles, grey shin pads, a muscle shirt and arm guards. He had a kunai holster attached to his left thigh. He had short, brown hair.

Both of them wore hitai-ate with a music note on their forehead.

"What's the meaning of it? Mizuki, who are they?" Iruka worriedly asked.

"Yeah, Mizuki, tell him who we are and why we're here." Ryoko said with a smirk.

"Don't be stupid, Ryoko. Why would we want to tell our plans to an enemy?" Shigeru said with annoyance. He wanted to finish as quickly as possible.

"He has a point, Ryoko. Now, Iruka, hand over Hinata and Naruto and we will leave you alive." Mizuki said with a grin.

"What? Iruka-sensei, what is Mizuki-sensei talking about?" Naruto asked. To say he was a bit confused would be a misunderstanding of the century.

"I don't know Naruto, but listen. Run to the village and inform Hokage about what happened here and request help." Iruka answered.

"Ahh, he is not going anywhere. You see, we need the demon brat for our plans." Mizuki answered, chuckling.

Although Mizuki wasn't as close to Naruto like Iruka was, it was still painful to hear your sensei call you what the rest of the village does. Now, Naruto was feeling sad and his anger was rising. He had had enough - first, the villagers called him demon brat, then he goes on athe trip, trying to have fun with his new friends. Then some random people appear, put a genjutsu on everyone and talk about taking Hinata and him for some plans. And then his own sensei calls him demon.

"Why, Mizuki! Why does everyone calls me demon? Why do you?" Naruto demanded, while having tears in his eyes.

"You really wanna know?" Mizuki smirked, "Fine."

"No, Mizuki, you can't. It's an S-class secret!" Iruka tried to reason with the traitor.

"Who cares about that? I'm no longer a ninja of this pathetic village. Ryoko, Shigeru, handle Iruka and then take the Hyuuga. I'll take care of this demon." Mizuki said. Both Ryoko and Shigeru nodded and were ready to engage Iruka.

"NO! I will not let you harm Naruto!" Iruka shouted and ran toward Naruto in order to protect him. But he couldn't reach him because he was kicked hard in the stomach and sent flying backwards. Iruka managed to land on his feet, then looked at his attacker.

"Sorry, but we are your opponents now." Shigeru said with a smirk.

_"I need to finish it quickly, if I want to help Naruto. Please, stay safe, I'll be by your side shortly." _Iruka thought.

* * *

_"I see. They want kidnap Hinata and Naruto to sell them to other hidden villages. Hinata because of her Byakugan, and Naruto because he is a jinchuuriki."_ Itachi thought. "I think it's time to intervene."

He was about to jump from his hiding spot when he suddenly felt large chakra spike.

_"What? Could it be Naruto? Maybe I should hide for a little while longer and see what happens."_

* * *

**-With Naruto-**

"Iruka!" Naruto shouted after Iruka was kicked. He was about to run to his brother figure when he was kicked by Mizuki.

"You're not going anywhere."

"Why, Mizuki! Why?" Naruto cried.

"Well, I suppose I could tell you. Do you know why villagers hate you?" Mizuki asked. When Naruto shook his head, he continued. "8 years ago, Kyuubi attacked our village. Many ninjas and civilians died that night. No one could stop the mad beast, but then the Yondaime Hokage appeared and gave everyone hope-"

"I already know that. Yondaime killed the Kyuubi, so get to the point already." Naruto shouted, his anger building.

"Impatient, huh? Well, you see - Kyuubi can't be killed because it's a creature of pure chakra. It can only be sealed. And Yondaime did it - he chose an orphan and sealed the beast inside it. It was you, Naruto. By becoming the host of Kyuubi, you became its reincarnation." Mizuki finished with victorious smirk when he saw Naruto's shocked face.

Naruto's eyes widened. _"That makes sense. 'Demon brat' and just 'demon', kicked out of the orphanage and stores and the hateful glares, parents telling their children to stay away from me. All because of Kyuubi?" _He then looked at Iruka, who was barely standing. He gritted his teeth _"Well I don't care what villagers think. It's not my nor Kyuubi's fault if they can't see the difference between a kunai and the scroll it's sealed in. I'll show them I'm no 'demon'. There are people who care about me. I can't allow Mizuki to manipulate me! I will continue to protect them as I did so far by keeping Kyuubi in prison! And I am not its reincarnation!" _Then he remembered something what Iruka once told him.

_Flashback._

"Naruto… being Hokage is not just about being acknowledged, but about protecting the village and your loved ones with your life and making life better for everyone. And you can become even more powerful if you have precious people to protect." Iruka said with a warm smile.

_Flashback end._

_**"Do you want to protect them?"**_someone asked. Naruto wasn't dumb so he figured out that someone was speaking in his mind.

_"Huh?"_ He mentally asked.

_**"Do you want to protect Iruka and those kids here?"**_ the voice asked again.

From the corner of his eyes he saw how Iruka was being beaten. He didn't have a choice._"I don't know who you are, but yes. 'Protect my precious people'. I don't know why I still love this village, but I will protect it with my last breath. I will become a Hokage and protect the village, and my precious people!"_ Naruto said with flames in his eyes, full of determination.

_**"Very well, I will give you the power to do so."**_ the voice said, and chuckled evilly.

When Mizuki saw the determination in Naruto's eyes, he became confused. _"It should have broken him." _"So will you-" He couldn't finish when he was thrown back by a chakra wave from Naruto. He felt a malevolent chakra and energy coming from Naruto. A chakra well known to him. _"No! Did I free the Kyuubi?"_

* * *

**-With Iruka, Shigeru and Ryoko-**

Right after he landed, Iruka took 6 shuriken in each hand and threw them at Ryoko and Shigeru. He then did some handseals and shouted **"Shuriken Kage bunshin no Jutsu"** and then 6 shuriken became 50. Both Ryoko and Shigeru easily dodged them or deflected them with kunai, but they still received some scratches. But it was only for distraction, while both of them were evading shuriken, Iruka had already finished another set of hand seals and shouted **"Doton: Rock Spike!"**_*2*_**. **One large rock spike shot up from the earth, ready to impale Ryoko, but she managed to dodge at the last second, but still received a deep gash on her shoulder.

Shigeru saw that and quickly made handseals, put his fingers near his mouth and shouted **"Katon: Fireball Jutsu!" **he then exhaled a medium sized fireball at Iruka. Iruka quickly dodged it only to receive a sharp punch in his gut and kick in a face from Ryoko. He stumbled back and when he stopped, he was ready to defend himself. He then heard a nice voice singing after which large plants with mouthz started to grow from the ground. After that, said plants rushed at Iruka, trying to swallow him.

_"What the fuck? Genjutsu?" _He then dispelled the genjutsu, but it was too late, because he received a strong punch from Shigeru which sent him flying. _"I think he broke my nose..."_

Ryoko took out a kunai and went for the kill.

Suddenly, the whole clearing was filled with malicious chakra and a shockwave threw them back a little.

* * *

Naruto didn't know what was happening. First, he felt anger, a lot of anger. Secondly, he felt bloodlust... he wanted to kill somebody and quickly. He looked up and around and saw Mizuki, the reason for his anger. Mizuki, meanwhile, watched Naruto with horror.

Red chakra started oozing out from Naruto and bubbling. A second red chakra cloak started covering his body, fox-like ears grew, replacing his ears and a tail formed around Naruto. His nails grew out a bit and became sharper. His hair became spikier and wilder than before. His whisker marks became more pronounced. His eyes turned red and his pupils turned into slits.

Then something happened.

In a blur he disappeared and reappeared in front of Mizuki, his hand ready to strike. Mizuki was too shocked to even move. Naruto pierced Mizuki's chest and heart making a hole and killed him instantly. Mizuki didn't have time to even scream in pain.

Naruto then took out his hand from the hole and blood started to spray out, covering him in it. Naruto then turned around and glared with his slitted eyes at Ryoko and Shigeru, who were shaking with fear.

**"You will not harm my precious people!"** he roared and faster than a mere Genin could see, he launched himself at Shigeru.

Shigeru's shinobi senses kicked in and he managed to dodge a punch by jumping to the left and falling to the ground. Naruto was already on him, ready to pierce his heart like he did with Mizuki. Shigeru covered his head, ready to die.

Before Naruto could finish, he felt pain in his back. He turned around and saw Ryoko throwing shuriken at him from a safe distance. Naruto then let out a roar with another shockwave, knocking back all the shurikens which were already impaled in him and others that were alread sent flying towards him. Naruto then redirected his attention to Ryoko and started to run towards her. Meantime, Shigeru was trying to run away.

When Naruto reached Ryoko, he launched a punch at her face, which she quickly blocked with her arms. Thanks to Kyuubi's chakra cloak, Naruto burned Ryoko's arms, despite her blocking the punch. Naruto then quickly kicked her and she couldn't block it. She stumbled back and before she managed to push back the pain from the recent kick and burn, Naruto was already on her, impaling her chest. More blood spilled out from the hole and Ryoko fell down, lifeless.

Naruto then turned around for his last target, but couldn't find him.

_"__**No! I must find him! I must find him and kill him or he will hurt more people! He will hurt more of my precious people if I do not KILL him!**__"_ Naruto nervously thought.

Then another large chakra wave erupted from Naruto. His eyes began to hurt. He started to scream. He didn't see his blue and silver chakra scome out of him and begin to swirl around, merging with the red one. He let out another painful scream.

"W-Wh-What's happening?" Iruka asked himself with fear in his eyes. Fear for Naruto.

* * *

_"I have to intervene or this will turn ugly"_ Itachi thought worriedly and jumped out from his hiding spot.

"Are you alright, Iruka-san?" Itachi asked.

"A-ANBU? What are you doing here?"

"No time to explain. Can you wake up the kids and lead them to a safe location?

"Y-y-yes."

"Good. I'll take care of Naruto-kun." Itachi said, and when he saw the worry in Iruka's eyes, he smiled under his mask and said "Even in this state you're protective of him, right? Don't worry, I will not hurt him. I will just try to suppress the demon's chakra."

Little did he know what was happening in Naruto's mind.

* * *

**-Mindscape-**

It looked like some kind of sewer or underground bunker with various tunnels and pipes along the wall and ceiling. There was also water which could reach a human's ankle. In front were LARGE cage-like doors with a simple paper, with the word "Seal" in kanji instead of a keyhole.

Behind the cage sat the Nine-Tailed Fox, who was grinning like mad, enjoying the feeling of killing. It_*3*_ couldn't see, smell or feel anything outside of the cage because of the seal, but its chakra cloak on Naruto was allowing him to feel the outside world, even if it was for a little while.

So Kyuubi was laying there, enjoying the sensations, when suddenly blue and silver energy erupted at the end of the tunnel and rapidly went for a cage. Kyuubi saw that and started to feel a bit worried. The silver chakra felt familiar though, but it couldn't remember why.

_**"What the hell is happening? What is this chakra?" **_he thought angrily.

While the blue and silver chakra was heading towards the cage, both energies started to merge together. After a second, the two chakras became one. It became silver with a blue tint to it.

When the chakra reached the cage, it suddenly stopped and started to form a figure. After some seconds, a tall, human figure stood in front of the cage. It looked like he was made of silver and blue flames. And it seemed like the figure was looking directly at the Kyuubi. Before Kyuubi could say anything, the chakra figure opened its eyes. Well, to be more precise those eyes just appeared on the figure.

But what shocked Kyuubi the most was what those eyes looked like: a ripple-like pattern around the pupil, with a light purple iris and scalera. Something felt very familiar about it.

**"What the fuck! Who the hell are you and what are you doing here?" **Kyuubi roared, demanding answers.

**"You will get your answers. But it is time to cure your unstable mind and bring you back. Also, it's time for him to awaken." **thefigure answered with a powerful yet calm voice. With that, he exploded and once again turned into a sea of silver chakra and tried to enclose Kyuubi.

Kyuubi fought back by producing as much chakra as possible, but because of the seal, it was limited in how much chakra it could create. Within a minute of chakra fighting, the silver one won and enclosed the Kyuubi. It(Kyuubi) was completely inside a large, filled in, silver chakra dome. After a minute, the silver chakra started to sink into the Kyuubi. Kyuubi let out a sharp roar of pain and tried to push back the silver chakra as much as possible, but to no avail. For a quick second, its eyes turned completely purple and then changed back. Now Kyuubi was radiating a orange-ish chakra. As quickly as everything started, it ended. Kyuubi panted heavily, exhausted.

_**"I... I now remember... everything. Oh Kami, what have I done? I need to speak to the kit as soon as possible. Thank Kami I was sealed inside him, or I would've never returned. So he is the one? So you were right after all, dad." **_Kyuubi thought while smiling. It wasn't one of those maniac grins, it was a sincere, warm smile. Something, one would never expect from the king of demons. _**"I still have some chakra left, so use it well and kill that bastard who dared to take away your precious people, kit."**_

As the 'Battle in the Mindscape' finished up, Naruto's chakra cloak became bright orange, instead of crimson red, it also looked much calmer. Naruto didn't feel any negative emotions anymore, instead he felt... peaceful... like he finally found something he had been searching for, for ages... he felt like he was in a sanctuary now. Also, he was radiating the same calm aura, chakra, sensation, call it whatever you like, all across the clearing. This chakra was also affecting everyone unconscious - slowly, very slowly, the genjutsu, which was cast on the kids, began dispelling.

Then he opened his eyes. He was surprised. He could see so much further now and so much clearer. He could see various chakra signatures which nearby people radiated. He didn't know it, but his eyes had changed. His bright blue eyes had been replaced by a ripple-like pattern around the blue pupil, with a yellow iris and purple scalera. Around his pupils were two thin slits (like the Sharingan tomoe)*4*.

He looked around and saw Shigeru running away. Unconsciously, he focused on the retreating figure and channeled chakra to his right eye. Unknown to him, the two slits in his right eye started to spin. After a second, he saw a kanji for 'Mark' appear on man's back. The kanji glowed a bit. Now, somehow, Naruto knew just how far Shigeru was. Naruto then ran towards Shigeru at incredible speeds, reaching him in 5 seconds. Before Shigeru could react, he was impaled through his chest from behind. The last thing he saw, was a bloody hand sticking out from his chest, blood dripping on ground. He then fell to the ground, lifeless.

After that was done, Naruto returned to Iruka. He stiffened when he saw a man near him, but relaxed when he realized it was Konoha ANBU.

"Iruka-sensei, are you alright?" Naruto asked.

Both Itachi and Iruka stared at Naruto in awe and shock. Awe, because of his chakra cloak which radiated calmness, instead of malicious bloodlust and was bright orange instead of crimson red. Shock because of his eyes.

_"R-Rinnegan!"_ Itachi stuttered in his mind. _"Impossible! He has the legendary Dojutsu? But it doesn't look like legends described. It should've been with a light purple iris and scalera and black pupil. Maybe it's evolved? Maybe that's what Hokage-sama meant..."_ he thought with awe.

Iruka had the same thoughts, but then he remembered his student asked him a question.

"Y-yeah, Naruto. I'm fine, thanks. You saved me here."

"Iruka-sensei... do you hate me? I mean... because of Kyuubi?" Naruto asked with worry.

"NO! Of course I don't hate you! You're like a little brother to me. And I can tell the difference between a beast and a human. You're completely human, Naruto, and I never hated you." Iruka said with a warm smile, forgetting about the changes in Naruto's eyes.

"Thank you, Iruka-sensei! Thank you very much!" answered Naruto with a bright smile and a single tear falling from his eyes.

His eyes then turned back to his normal ocean blue and his orange chakra cloak disappeared. He then fell unconscious to the ground as the kids finally woke up.

When the kids woke up, the first thing they felt was calmness in the air and saw Naruto standing in an orange chakra cloak with fox-like ears and tail sticking out from it. Then they saw Naruto fall unconscious.

"Naruto!" Sasuke, Shikamaru and Choji shouted, worried for their friend. Little did they know said friend saved all of them from Kami knows what.

* * *

**-2 minutes before 'Battle in Mindscape'-**

**-Somewhere in Amegakure-**

**"Shinra Tensei"** shouted Nagato, throwing Hanzo back with an invisible force. Hanzo stopped when he hit the wall of a nearby building. This fight was lasting for too long, Hanzo was already exhausted, and can barely stand.

_"Who the hell is this guy? And what's with those eyes? Any jutsu I throw at him, he just absorbs or repels." _He thought with a scowl on his face. _"How can I win. No... the right question is: CAN I win?"_

He couldn't waste anymore time thinking because he had to dodge paper shuriken. He then heard Nagato speaking.

"Your time has come to an end, you're already exhausted and I can still fight. Be honored, for you will be the first step towards a greater good. Your pain will be the first of many." Nagato calmly said, his voice void of emotion.

Before Hanzo could answer Nagato, he raised up his hand and said **"Bansho Ten'in" **and the next thing Hanzo knew, he is pulled towards Nagato with an unknown force.

_"So this is it."_

When Hanzo finally reached Nagato, he was impaled by a black, long and sharp rod, piercing his heart and immediately killing him.

Just as Nagato did it, he quickly turned around and stared into the distance. Unknown to him, he was staring directly at Naruto as he awakened his Rinnengan.

A woman with blue hair and a paper flower in it approached Nagato and asked "Is something wrong?"

Nagato didn't answer for a minute, still staring. He then turned his eyes to Konan and said, "Nothing. I just felt something familiar. Let's go. We have to deal with those who were loyal to Hanzo. When that is done, I shall become a God and you will be my Angel."

"Yes, Nagato."

"From this moment onward, my name is Pein."

With that, both figures walked deeper in the town killing everyone in their path who were still loyal to Hanzo.

_"Soon, I shall bring peace to this tainted world, because I was chosen to do so."_

* * *

**End!**

**I hope you liked it, although I admit, the short fighting scenes were a bit lame. I'm not good at writing them, but I will try my best. I've got some feedback that my next fighting scene is much better than this one . I hope you like the story so far.**

***1*About why this genjutsu didn't work in the blonde: if the user would apply Genjutsu directly by using his/her own chakra, Naruto would have to dispel it manually. In this case genjutsu was used through the seal while not using caster's own chakra, thus changing a concept of said genjutsu so Naruto's potent chakra wasn't disrupted. This genjutsu is more powerful if opponent have low reserves and is effective in taking out a group of weak shinobi. But those with bigger reserves, are not affected by it.**

***2* I've never seen Iruka using any jutsu, so I decided to give him Doton affinity. And yeah, I know. Lame jutsu name. You will see a lot something like that, although I will try to be more original and come up with more interesting jutsu names.**

***3* In this story Kyuubi doesn't have a gender - it's pure chakra, that's why I will call him "it" in my story until said otherwise.**

***4* To see how it looks like, visit my profile. I will put a link there.**

**Say what you liked, what disliked, how is story so far and leave some feedback, say what I could improve on. Your feedback can make my story better and more enjoyable for you.**

**If you like what you read and if you favorited me, make sure to check my facebook page. The link is in my profile. **

**Thanks for reading.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Thanks for those few reviews you did. Sorry for long wait, but I don't have time to write every day, so I'm updating once in a week.**

**Maybe I should make chapters shorter but update more often? I will think about it.**

**To answer one of the reviews:**

**war sage: pairings? well, that is a secret. it will NOT be a harem though.**

**I updated (as promised) the picture of Naruto's Rinnegan in my profile.  
**

**To answer one of the reviews:**

**_serialkeller_: thanks for asking. I know it sounds like they had this dream just so that they knew what the other looked like, but it's not completely true. So far my story was quite straightforward so I decided to put some 'mysteriousness', if you can call it like that, to my story. Think about it. It was Kami who sent them this dream. Would she bother to intervene in humans' life just so they knew how the other look like? I don't think so. There's more to this dream than it seems. "Look underneath the underneath" (I think that's how Kakashi says it). I will not reveal what this dream was about, but it will be important later in the story. Have you thought about: Who was that monster? Why did Naruto's Rinnegan looked differently? Why he was alone? How this dream is connected with Alicia and Naruto?**

**I know that dreams can be about ANYTHING, but this was a dream from Kami. Like a message, if you like. I hope I made it clear.**

**For those who may ask: 'why not harem?'**

**I don't have anything against harem, I sometimes even enjoy reading fic with it. But there are many fictions where all the story is about how Naruto sleeps with various women for several chapters and doesn't make any progress into main plot (unless fucking every girl you see is a main plot. ****_*laughs*_****).**

**But as I am a new writer, I think I will have some difficulties writing a harem and divide relationship between Naruto and different women. Also, I would like to give other guys a chance. It's always Naruto who gets ALL the girls in town and leaves everyone else with nothing. I know he deserves love 'n' stuff, but you can get enough love from one woman as well. So, Naruto will have one girlfriend who he has deep love and relationship with, but it doesn't mean I can't add some 'sex partners'****_*wink*wink*_****.**

**_For example_****, Naruto is together with, umm... lets say, Ino. He goes to dates with her, makes love (read: fucks) with her and stuff like that. And at the same time he sometimes fucks with Anko and Kurenai as well, but he isn't in relationship with either them (and Ino knows about it and sometimes joins in). I hope you see where am I going with it and made it clear. ****_*wide-smile*_**

**UPDATE 14/03/2013 : the chapter has been beta'ed. **

**Disclaimer: I DON'T own 'Naruto', but OCs is my own creation.**

* * *

**Chapter 2**

_Drip!_

_Drip!_

_Drip_! was the only thing Naruto heard when he woke up. He looked around and tried to figure out where he was. It looked like some kind of sewer or underground bunker with pipes running along the walls and ceiling. The place looked creepy.

"Where the hell am I?" Naruto asked himself. He tried to remember what happened and how he ended up here. Slowly, his memories came back to him.

"Oh that's right. Mizuki and those two attacked us, then someone spoke to me, then I felt some kind of power and then..." Naruto gasped "...oh no.. I.. I-I killed them. A-All of them... W-What have I done? Am I re-really a d-de-demon like everyone talks about?" Tears started to form in his eyes. "I-I need to find somebody. I-I need to find the exit."

He took a step and noticed there was water that reached his ankles. But it didn't make Naruto's feet wet. Creepy.

He was walking through various tunnels, trying to find an exit until he heard something. It sounded like breathing and snorting? Being a curious kid, Naruto walked towards the noises' direction. Plus, he hoped it will be someone who could help him.

After about 5 minutes he reached a dead end. Or so he thought. He was standing in front of huge cage-like doors which were held closed with a paper with kanji for 'seal' on it. In Naruto's opinion, it didn't look reliable enough to keep the door shut. And he couldn't see what was inside the cage, because it was pitch black in there. But the breathing was louder than 5 minutes ago.

Then, before Naruto could go into the cage, two large,red eyes with black slits snapped open. As the eyes opened, a bit of light came into the cage, revealing a huge fox laying inside. But what caught Naruto's attention were the nine tails which was calmly swinging behind the fox.

Naruto let out a scream, and backed away from the cage. He had read about Kyuubi, who attacked Konoha 8 years ago, and he knew what it looked like. But to be so close to it was a new experience for him. He was so frightened, he almost pissed his pants and he was gaping like a fish, afraid to say something or call for a help.

The Fox observed him with curious eyes until it became boring.

**"Don't worry kit, I won't hurt or eat you."** Kyuubi said with a surprisingly calm voice for a demon.

"H-H-How I-I can b-be sure? You're a de-demon after all. A-And w-why are you h-here? Y-You should be de-dead." Naruto stuttered in fear, although in mind he was surprised _"IT speaks!"_

**"HA! I can't be killed. I'm made of pure chakra and no mortal can kill me!"** Kyuubi said with amusement.

"W-What? Then w-where are w-we? Is this some k-kind of d-dream? I-If you c-can't be killed, w-what happened to y-you 8 y-years ago?" Naruto asked. Little by little he was overcoming his fear and stuttering, seeing the demon is not going to kill him. Yet.

**"Too many questions, kit. But I will answer them. No, it's not a dream and we're in your mindscape which was created by the seal, which also put me here, in other words, we're in your mind. To answer your other question, although I can't be killed, I can be sealed using potent and strong seals." **Kyuubi answered and watched Naruto, hoping he will figure it out himself. Kyuubi knew Naruto is not as stupid as everyone thinks.

"My mind... can't be killed, only sealed... cage with a seal... voice in my head... villagers hate..." Naruto muttered and then he widened his eyes. "No... It can't be! You're sealed inside me?"

**"Yes, I'm sealed inside of you. I knew you would figure it out, by giving you obvious hints."** fox answered with a grin, showing all its sharp teeth. It looked very intimidating.

"B-But why? Why did the Yondaime Hokage choose me out of all o-orphans?" Naruto asked, tears coming from his eyes, fear forgotten. He just wanted to know why Yondaime ruined his life.

_**"Should I tell him or not? Nahh, I'll tell him, better now than later. He needs to know the truth anyway. If I'll tell him now, he will be broken just for a week or two. If I'll tell him some other time, he will be broken twice."**_ Kyuubi thought.

"T-Tell me, why? W-Why me?"

**"He just couldn't ask another parent to sacrifice their child."**

"AND HE JUST CHOSE A RANDOM ORPHAN WITHOUT PARENTS?" Naruto yelled angrily, his voice full of fury and his eyes red from tears.

**"Yes and No. Yes, he chose you. No, he didn't choose, as you say, a random child. You're his son, kit. He chose his own son."**

"What? What are you talking about, fox?" Naruto asked. His anger and fury settled, and now confusion was in his voice. "I can't be Yondaime's son... It just sounds too good. I can't be the son of such an important person. It doesn't make any sense."

**"Yes, you are. Think about it. First, he chose his own newborn son, whose chakra coils didn't develop yet and so he (son) would be loyal to village after sealing. Secondly, before he died, he asked the village to see you as a hero, who keeps in me in prison. Of course he was an idiot, believing they will honor this kind of wish. Thirdly, he knew something dark was coming and this world needed a hero. Who else would be better for this role, than a kid with the strongest of bijuu sealed inside him and enormous chakra reserves?"** Kyuubi answered with foxish smirk. **"Lastly, you look just like him. Exact copy. Blue eyes, blond hair, the same face, only yours is a bit rounder than his."**

After thinking for a while, he admitted that it made sense. He remembered all the pictures of the Yondaime, and he admitted that the Yondaime looked just like him. He still needed to confirm it with ojiisan.

But now he couldn't hate the man. He sacrificed his life for the village, it was something that a true leader would do. And he asked the village to see Naruto as a hero. Something, Naruto had always wanted.

"I see. It makes sense now. But I will confirm it with ojiisan. I have to know if it's really true." Naruto said.

Kyuubi just nodded and waited for some more questions.

It was shocking to find out the lord of demons, Kyuubi no Yoko, was sealed inside him. It was more shocking to find out the man he admired the most, was his idol, was also his father, who sealed the said bijuu inside him. But he will think about it later.

"I'll think about everything later, when I will wake up. Can I ask some q-questions?" Naruto asked. Every time he looked at demon's eyes, he stuttered.

Kyuubi smiled... or grinned. Depends from which point of view one saw.

**"Of course, kit. We still have some time until you will wake up."**

"R-Right. I've read the Kyuubi is a malicious being, full of rage and hatred and kills everything it sees. But I don't feel anything evil from you. At all. Why?"

**"Well, it's simple. Your books lie."**

"Huh?"

Kyuubi sighed. **"When I was created, along with 8 other bijuu, I was an intelligent creature. Our creator gave us a task and we were scattered about the elemental nations. Slowly, after thousands of years, the other bijuu went berserk because of the long time in the living world or because of unknown conditions. Bijuu are not stable creatures. I too was losing my mind. But then something happened and my mind was healed. So I lived like that for some thousand years. But one day, a man found me and used his kekkei genkai, the Sharingan, to tame me. Then everything went blank. He was VERY powerful if he could tame me. Next thing I knew, I was fighting another man, who could use Mokuton."**

Naruto was listening very carefully. In his opinion it was interesting to hear some history.

"Mokuton? You mean the Shodaime Hokage?"

**"Yes. Don't interrupt me anymore, kid!"** Kyuubi growled. It really didn't like when someone interrupted it. **"As I was saying, I was fighting a man with the Mokuton ability and he won the fight. When I was released from the Sharingan's effect, I fled from there as far as possible, my instincts said to do so. But I was unsuccessful. Shodaime found me and sealed me inside a woman. Being tamed by the Sharingan and then being sealed were key factors in losing my mind. It was the moment I lost all my clear thinking and acted only on instinct, rage and bloodlust. I was like a savage animal, like the books described me. Until now. I'm very lucky I was sealed inside you."**

To say Naruto was shocked was like saying the village loved him. To think Kyuubi was once an intelligent creature and was fighting with the Shodaime Hokage himself. And lost.

**"Any more questions so far?"**

After moment of thinking and overcoming his shock, Naruto asked, "If you were sealed, how did you break free and attack Konoha?"

**"8 years ago, a man with the Sharingan set me free from my previous host. The same eyes tamed me again and controlled me. The man ordered me to attack the village. After his control of me was gone, everything I saw was red. I was filled with rage and I was on a rampage. Unfortunately, I don't know any details on how was I freed or who my previous host was. And I'm sorry for attacking this village."**

"Okay, that explains why books say you're a malicious being. And don't apologize, it wasn't completely your fault. But why until now? What changed you? When you offered power, you sounded evil, but now you don't seem evil or malicious at all."

**"I had hoped you will me ask that. You see, when I was flooding you with my chakra, you were subconsciously mixing it with your own chakra and channeling it to your eyes in order to find the last man. You put so much strain on your eyes that you would have become blind, but you got lucky and instead of going blind, you awakened a dormant power. Your bloodline."**

"M-My bloodline? I have a bloodline?" Naruto asked, shock clearly evident in his voice.

Kyuubi scowled. Naruto interrupted it again.

**"Yes, your bloodline. Rinnegan. Don't ask any questions, I'll explain."** Kyuubi said and thought how to explain it clearly, so Naruto could understand it **"You don't have a normal Rinnegan though. It's a bit evolved. Also, you were gifted with special chakra, though I don't know why or how. Remember when you suddenly felt pain in your eyes and your whole body?" **After getting a nod from Naruto, Kyuubi continued **"You were in pain because in here, your mindscape, your own chakra was mixing with a new chakra. When they finished mixing, this new chakra was fighting with me, trying to overcome me, while in real world three chakras were mixing together, which was successful. After your new chakra engulfed me, it started to heal my mind and placed various blocks so I wouldn't go berserk again.** **As long as I'm sealed inside you I will not become a savage animal again. Plus, even if I get free of you, I will start losing my intelligence only after some thousands of years." **Kyuubi finished explaining.

Naruto widened his eyes. He was shocked and awed at the same time.

"Rinnegan? But I thought it was just a legend. How come _I_ have it?" he asked, emphasizing the word 'I' as if it was something UN-fucking-believable.

**"In some way, it is a myth. You see, you don't get Rinnegan by blood. When dark times come and when the world is in danger, Kami herself chooses a human who will save the world, or do something else in the name of the better good, and who will wield the sacred eyes. The first human to ever wield the Rinnegan was Rikudou Sennin, my creator. Only one human in the world can have the Rinnegan. Seeing that you have a different one, I presume there is already someone with the original Rinnegan."**

If Naruto wasn't in his mindscape, he would have passed out from this kind of information. Kami chose him? Rinnegan? Rikudou Sennin created Kyuubi? It was too much for his poor brain.

"Wait, you said only one person can wield the Rinnegan and then you say there's someone else with these eyes. Can you explain that?"

**"I am not sure, but I presume the original Rinnegan wielder did something that could bring more disaster to this world. Like, he chose the wrong path, did something wrong or something along those lines. Remember this, kit, humans are not perfect and when given power, they will not always walk the correct path. But if Kami chose you, I will trust her judgment and help you."**

Naruto just nodded in understanding. He didn't know why, but he understood everything the Kyuubi was saying to him. He didn't have as many questions as most kids his age would have. Maybe it had something to do with this new Rinnegan? He didn't think too much about it.

"Umm, what do you mean by "helping" me?"

**"I will train you. Kit, Kami chose you and my mission is to train you."**

"Awesome! An overgrown fox with nine tails, who also happens to be a Lord of Demons, will train me! How awesome is that?" Naruto said, excited and all fear lost, bumping his fist into the air until he heard Kyuubi's growl.

**"Watch your mouth, kid. I'm not an overgrown **_**fox**_**."**

"Umm, sorry." Naruto said with sheepish smile. "Oh, what do you mean by 'mission'?"

**"I will tell you later. Our time has come to an end. Do you have any other questions?"**

"Actually yes. How will you train me? I mean, do I always will have to come here to speak to you?"

**"I'm afraid so, yes, kit. The seal is very powerful and it will not allow me to speak to you, unless you're enraged. Next time when you come here, I will tell you your training schedule."**

"I see. Do you have a name or I will I always have to refer to you as Kyuubi? And are you male or female?" Naruto curiously asked. A Demon Lord _should_ have a name or gender, at least he thought so.

Kyuubi let out a small chuckle **"Yes, I have a name, but I will not tell it to you now. And I don't have a gender, I'm a being made from chakra and given intelligence and consciousness. Why?"**

"I guess you will tell me your name when you trust me more. And it's uncomfortable to refer to you as 'it'. From now on I will refer to you as 'he', okay?"

_**"So the new Rinnegan boosted his intelligence? I'm glad he found out I will tell him my name when I get to know him better. Still, it's surprising."**_ Kyuubi thought and answered **"Sure, I don't care. Anything else?"**

"Yeah, last thing. How do I activate my Rinnegan?"

**"Well, you just channel chakra to your eyes and think 'Rinnegan'. I think that's how it works."**

"What do you mean by 'you think'?"

**"You see, the original Rinnegan has one con. Once it awakens, it cannot be deactivated and always stays on. But yours, somehow, is different. While you will rest outside, I will analyze the recent battle and try to find out the new abilities of **_**your**_ **Rinnegan. Go on, try and activate it." **Kyuubi answered, emphasizing word 'your'.

"Umm. Kyuubi-sama. Ho-"

Before Naruto could finish, Kyuubi growled a bit, **"Kid, don't -sama me. Just Kyuubi or Kyuubi-sensei. I hate all that honorifics stuff."**

Naruto was a bit surprised _"And here I thought, the lord of the demons will demand respect. I guess not..."_ He thought and then continued, "Right. Kyuubi. So, I can channel chakra to my eyes the same way I channel it to my feet, right?"

Kyuubi rolled his eyes for such a stupid question. **"Yes. The same concept. Try to close your eyes. Usually it helps when activating dojutsu for the first time."**

Naruto nodded and did as Kyuubi instructed. He closed his eyes, imagined the chakra in his body and how it flows to his eyes, when he felt it was enough he thought _**"Rinnegan!"**_and quickly opened his eyes.

He gasped. It became much lighter now, as if they were outside, in a field on a sunny day. Then, with his Rinnegan, he looked at Kyuubi. Directly at his eyes.

Kyuubi's eyes widened when he saw the slits in _both _of Naruto's eyes begin to spin rapidly, and he knew something was going to happen. And it happened. He felt how a portion of his demonic chakra was being drawn out; it lasted for just 2 or 3 seconds. After that, he saw a ball of dark orange chakra floating in front of him. Then, the orange chakra quickly moved through the sealed gates and engulfed Naruto, who was sitting there as if nothing happened, his slits still spinning, and then was absorbed by him.

His Rinnegan stopped spinning, deactivated itself and Naruto snapped back to reality.

"What just happened? When I looked in your eyes, I passed out for some seconds."

Kyuubi, panting slightly, said **"I don't know, kit... It looks you awakened a new ability. You just took a portion of my chakra and absorbed it. It wasn't much though, less than half of the one tail chakra amount."**

"But I didn't do anything. Will my Rinnegan always do stuff by itself?" Naruto asked. He just hoped he didn't make Kyuubi mad. He sighed in relief, when he didn't sense any anger from the demon.

**"No. I guess it will only happen when you awaken new abilities. Okay, our time has come to an end. We will meet again in the near future. Take care, kit."** Kyuubi said and closed his eyes to go back to sleep, in order to regain all the strength he lost after the 'Battle in the Mindscape' and now.

Before Naruto could respond, bright light entered his mindscape and blinded him. He blinked a few times, and after the 4th blink he opened his eyes.

* * *

"Where am I _now_?" Naruto asked himself as he stared at the white ceiling.

"You're in the hospital, Naruto." someone said. "How do you feel?"

Naruto turned his head and saw someone who he thinks of as grandfather.

"Ojiisan!" Naruto almost shouted in excitement. "I'm okay, I guess. What happened and how long have I been here?"

"Well, to answer your second question, you've been out for two days." the old Hokage answered.

"WHAT? TWO DAYS?" Naruto shouted. "What the hell! Why so long?"

"For some reason you had slight chakra exhaustion, as well as... blindness. Even so, for _you _it is a long time. And to answer your first question, that's what I would want to know. Can you tell me what happened?" He asked.

"Blindness? Was it because of my ...?" Naruto muttered. Hokage couldn't hear the last word though. "Yeah, I can tell you what happened from what I remember." Hokage nodded, telling him to continue. "We arrived at this awesome field in the forest. It was really beautiful. Then, we set up our tents, we made campfire and then we had some free time before Iruka-sensei would start his lecture. When he started, I suddenly felt very tired and wanted to sleep, but I somehow resisted it. I saw how the others were falling asleep. Then Mizuki appeared with someone. There was Mizuki, one more man and a woman. I didn't recognize which village they were from, but I remembered their hitai-ate. There was musical note on it. After that, they split up - the two strangers went for Iruka-sensei and Mizuki approached me."

_"A note? I don't remember such a village... Maybe a new one?" _Hiruzen thought. "I see. What happened next?"

Naruto thought a bit, whether tell him or not. He decided to tell him, he trusted the old Hokage after all and he didn't want to lie to him.

"Ojiisan, promise you won't tell anyone what I'm about to tell you. Promise or I will leave this village." Naruto said with serious expression.

Hiruzen was a bit shocked at such a statement. "I promise. But would you really leave? And I doubt you _could_ do that."

Naruto just grinned. "Well, if I can escape ANBU after my pranks, escaping the village wouldn't be that hard, would it?"

The old Hokage looked at Naruto with amusement. But it was true, if Naruto could escape ANBU, then leaving village wouldn't be that hard either. "You're right, it wouldn't be that hard. But would you do it?"

"Of course not. I just said that so you would promise and realize how serious what I'm about to say is. Even after everything this village did to me, this is still my home and I love it." Naruto said with a bright smile.

ANBU, which were hiding nearby and guarding the Hokage, sweatdropped. _"This kid..."_

"You're very sneaky, you know that?" Hiruzen said with a sigh.

"Yeah, yeah. I know. Oh, and place a privacy seal a round the room and tell your ANBU to leave."

Now both ANBU in the area and the Hokage were surprised. They were surprised because some first year academy brat could sense them, although they had suppressed and masked their chakra.

Overcoming his shock, the Hokage asked, "I don't even know how you sensed the ANBU, but I believe it's something to do with what you're gonna tell me, right?" After receiving a nod, he continued, "Is it so important?"

Naruto's face was very serious, and he had that face only when something really serious happened. "Yes, it is. Besides, I completely trust you, but not ANBU. I don't want any rumors to spread."

After thinking a bit, Hiruzen nodded and signaled the ANBU to leave. After a second, the tension in the air was lighter.

"Ojiisan, there, in the corner," he pointed at the far right corner of the room "is one more ANBU. I told you, I _can_ sense their chakra."

Once again, the Hokage was surprised, but he just lifted his hand, signaling the last ANBU to leave. Then he made some hand seals and room walls flashed blue, before returning to normal, indicating that the privacy seal was now set.

"Now tell me, what was so important that happened?" Hokage asked gently.

"Right. When Mizuki approached me, he started to talk some nonsense. Then, I saw how Iruka-sensei was being beaten and how everyone was laying there, helpless. It appeared Mizuki was after me and Hinata for some reason. When I heard that, I was very angry and then someone offered me power... and I accepted it. Suddenly I started feeling angrier and my body moved by instinct. I... I-I k-killed Mizuki with a stab from my hand to his heart. A-And then I-I killed that w-woman." Naruto answered, tears forming in his eyes. He had killed three people that day. "A-Am I a mindless k-ki-killer? Am I really the d-demon ev-everyone talks a-about?"

Hiruzen, again, was a bit shocked when he heard about someone talking in Naruto's mind and offering him power. _"Kyuubi... And those damn villagers, still calling him names, even after I forbade it..." _he thought with a scowl on his face. Hiruzen then calmly asked "Tell me, Naruto. Why did you kill them?"

Naruto looked at Hokage with teary eyes and said "To protect my friends, of course. When I saw my classmates laying there, and Iruka being beaten, I remembered how Iruka-sensei once said to me _'you can become even more powerful if you have precious people to protect'. _That's why accepted that power in the first place."

"I see. Now tell me, did you enjoy killing?" Hiruzen asked.

"I-I don't know. I mean, I felt nothing when I killed them, but after my small frenzy disappeared, I realized what I did. It was h-horrible. I killed so-someone. I ki-killed my se-sensei..." Naruto answered with small sobs in the end.

The Hokage put his hands on Naruto's shoulders gently, with a warm smile, which showed how much he cared for Naruto, said "Don't cry, Naruto. You did the right thing. Mizuki betrayed us and our village. He wanted to hurt your friends and classmates, as well as Iruka. Kami knows what would have happened if you hadn't been there. The most important thing was that you didn't enjoy it and that you felt sorry for the actions you had to perform. It means you won't become a mindless killer. You also did it for the right reasons. But remember, when you become a ninja and go on missions, you will have to kill in order to complete the mission. Just remember, you do it for right reasons."

Naruto's sobs became quieter and he hugged the Hokage "T-Thanks, ojiisan. Your words mean a lot to me."

"No problem, Naruto. Remember that I will always support you. But I believe your story doesn't end like that... there's something more to it, right? You didn't tell me what happened to the third person."

"Right. After I k-killed the woman, I..."

And so he told the Hokage everything that happened. Including his new bloodline and Kyuubi, though he didn't mention that Kyuubi told him who his father was. After Naruto finished retelling what happened, old Sarutobi sat there silently, staring at Naruto stupidly and blankly for about one or two minutes. Then...

"WHAT?" shouted Hokage. "So let me get this straight. You heard Kyuubi, it was evil and you accepted its power. Then you got new chakra and it mixes with your own. Then your new chakra heals Kyuubi's mind and it happens that Kyuubi is not evil... After that you find out that you have _THE_ Rinnegan, and shoud I mention, an _evolved_ one, because you've been chosen by Kami to help this world, or so the Kyuubi says. Then Kyuubi offers to train you because of some unknown _mission. _After that, you activate your Rinnegan in your mindscape and something happens. Am I right so far?"

Naruto sheepishly smiled and rubbed back of his head in embarrassment. "Yeah, that's pretty much what happened."

"I need sake. I'm getting too old for this..." the Hokage muttered. "Can you show me?"

Understanding what the ojiisan wants, Naruto closed his eyes, channeled some chakra to his eyes and thought _**"Rinnegan!"**_and then opened his eyes, showing the Hokage his Rinnegan with two slits around his pupils.

While Hiruzen stared at Naruto's Rinnegan with an opened mouth, Naruto examined his surroundings. He couldn't believe how well he could see, he could see everything in much better detail. Naruto then saw flower pots near the window, which was at the end of the room, and tried to focus on the leaf. Slowly, he could see more and more detail on the leaf - two drops of water from the morning dew, green veins running along the leaf. After 2 seconds he could also see a small dust layer on the leaf and a small bug running there. He then lost his concentration when the Hokage called for him.

"Naruto... Your right eyes' slits are slowly spinning. What are you doing?"

"Huh? Oh, I was focusing on the flower over there." He then pointed at the flower, "After some seconds I could see almost all the details on the leaf, even the dust and a small bug. And you said my right eye? I think my right eye gives me the ability to see further. Maybe there's something more to it. I hope Kyuubi will find out." Naruto finished and deactivated his Rinnegan just by stopping the flow of chakra to his eyes. Somehow, it was easier to manipulate chakra in his body than it was before when he did tree walking.

"Right. I don't really like the idea of you being trained by Kyuubi or talking with him, but I will trust you. Itachi, the ANBU who was watching you, said that your chakra cloak changed and wasn't radiating anymore bloodlust. Your story explains why. So I will trust you." Hokage said.

"Umm, if you already knew everything, why did you ask?" Naruto asked, curious. Then he got it. "Oh, wait. Don't answer. You asked because you wanted to see how everything happened from my point of view and to fill in some holes from Itachi-san's report, right?"

"That is correct, Naruto. I'm impressed. One week ago you couldn't get it so fast." Hokage replied.

"I think it has something to do with my Rinnegan. When I found out Kyuubi was sealed inside me, I wasn't so sad about it as I thought I would be. I just accepted it. In my opinion, the Rinnegan somehow boosted my intelligence, though I'm not sure. I still need some time to think about everything Kyuubi said to me." Naruto said.

"I see. Then I will leave you. I have to return to my duties. You will stay here for 2 more days and then return back to the academy." Hokage said as he stood up. "Oh, I almost forgot to tell you. I approve of this training, but when you become a genin, you will show me your skill and what you've learned. Understood?"

"Yes, ojiisan. See ya later." Naruto said as he laid back in bed and went to sleep.

The Hokage just smiled and left the hospital, returning to the tower to resume his duties. To be more precise, to be tortured by damn paperwork. Again.

* * *

**-Village, somewhere near Kaminari no Kuni borderland-**

It was deep night in a small village near Kaminari no Kuni (Lightning country) borderland. The full moon shone in all its glory, illuminating lone streets with its mysterious light. You could hear some wolf pack, hidden near the forest's shadows, howling at the moon and ready to hunt their unsuspecting prey. Most of the villagers were already asleep, their homes embraced in darkness, dreaming about various things. Though some houses still had their lights on.

And one of these houses was the Tsukiko clan's main building.

The Tsukiko clan was a very ancient clan with a very rare bloodline and summoning contract. Why were they rare? Because only once in 400-500 years a single member of clan can awaken their ancient bloodline and only this one person can sign their sacred summoning contract. The bloodline was very strong, so strong it could cease wars or heal injuries; it could summon souls to aid allies, or rain death on their enemies. In order to awaken the bloodline, one needed to meet various conditions. One may think that one of these conditions is high emotional or physical pain, but that's not true. At least, not completely. The condition is unknown. Each member who ever awakened the bloodline did it in different ways - one suffered emotional pain, the other suffered high physical pain while someone else got it out of the blue.

But the last member, who had this bloodline, died 1500 years ago. No one knows why the bloodline had suddenly disappeared, but it is the reason why this clan is now extinct. The last two members of this clan, a girl and her grandfather remain on their sacred ground, in their home; their village which they built. It was a rather small village too.

They say the bloodline has disappeared, that it's nothing but a myth. But they are wrong. The ancient power is going to be awakened again. By the sole survivor of the said clan.

The main clan hall was lit by many candles on the walls. The room wasn't bright, but it was enough too see. This room was sacred and was used only in important clan events, like meetings and deciding clan or clan members' fates. And today, or rather tonight, was an important event for one girl.

In the middle of the hall was a large bed, surrounded by candles. In the bed laid an old man, covered with silver colored blankets. He had short grey hair, and his face had many wrinkles, indicating his old age. It looked like he was in his early 70s, but he looked sick and... dying.

Near the old man, next to the bed, was a young girl. She had a beautiful face - narrow eyebrows, deep brown eyes with black pupils, a small but beautiful nose and thin lips. She had long, light brown hair, which reached a bit past her shoulder blades and bangs hanging down on either side of her face to frame her beautiful face. Although she was only 9 years old, she was beautiful. The girl was on her knees, her face buried in her palm, crying. Why is she crying? Because her only relative, her grandfather will die within some minutes.

"Alice-chan," the old man addressed her granddaughter with weak voice "why are you crying?"

Alice, whose full name was Alicia Tsukiko, lifted her head, showing her red cheeks and eyes, answered with sorrow and anger. Sorrow for obvious reason, but anger for such a stupid question, "Why am I crying? How could I not when all my clan and family has died and you're the only one left. How could I not cry when you're going to die too and I'll be left all alone?" she finished and buried her face in her palms again and started to cry louder, no longer capable of keeping it in.

"I'm old, Alice-chan. You should know members of our clan usually die about this age." the old man said, then he paused as if thinking about something. After minute of silence (except Alicia's crying) the old man continued as serious as he could in his condition "Listen, Alicia. Do you know the prophecy of our clan?"

Alicia lifted her head, hearing how serious her ojiisan was. She just nodded; She knew about the prophecy from the age of six. The man then continued.

"I believe with all my heart the prophecy is about you, Alice-chan..." the man coughed several times.

"B-but it's just that, a prophecy. It is as good as a myth." she countered.

"Alicia!" the old man sternly said. "Listen carefully. I believe in you. You heard me? I. Believe. In. You." he said, emphasizing each his word, "Even if you will do not awaken it, I believe you will do as the prophecy says, because that is my last wish." seeing his granddaughter's widened eyes, he reached into his pocket in his pants, and took out a key. It looked really old and it had some kind of wing-like pattern on it's bow. "Here, take this key. Just in case you're the one. You know where the sacred chamber is." he said as he gave Alicia the key, which she accepted with trembling hands. He continued "From now on, you're heir and sole survivor to our clan. Good luck, Alicia. I love you."

More tears started to form in girl's eyes. She squeezed the key and put her hands on her chest, where heart should be, as if it was the dearest thing left for her.

"T-Thank y-you, ojiisan. I will d-do as y-you ask. I l-l-love y-you t-t-too," she said as she hugged her grandfather for last time. When she let him go, she saw him smiling and ... glowing.

"Thank you. Be the val*cough*kyrie like some of our predecessors were." he quietly said, as he was engulfed in yellow and white light and slowly started to evaporate. Although when someone dies it is sad, but it was beautiful. In five or six seconds, he was gone. Dead.

But Alicia knew better. Her clan didn't just die, and the way they died is not normal on it's own. When the person in their clan dies, they connect with nature around, as if they were creations of nature themselves.

When the last particle of her deceased grandfather disappeared, she was broken, but at the same time you could see the strong determination in her eyes.

"I won't let you down, ojiisan!" she said quietly.

Light started to form around her, but she didn't notice it.

"I will fulfill your wish and heal this world!" she said louder, her voice full of determination, still oblivious to the sudden light around her, which was getting bigger and brighter.

Suddenly she stood up and as if trying to convince someone, shouted "FOR I AM ALICIA TSUKIKO, HEIR TO THE TSUKIKO CLAN AND ITS LAST MEMBER!"

After those words were spoken, she noticed the light around herself. She gasped, but it was too late. The light flared, illuminating all the village through compound's windows, making the night as light as the day. It kept for some seconds, then the light died down.

After the light was gone, Alicia stood there for some seconds, her eyes wide in shock, after which she fel, uncoscious. But something had changed though - her hair changed from light brown to light blonde and was now reaching down to her lower back.

Some of the villagers who were still awake saw the flare, and thought with awe,

_"The valkyrie is born."_

* * *

**-Alicia's dream-**

She was... flying or floating above the village. The village was huge and almost all the population looked happy. Why almost? Because there was one place which was filled with some kind of grey aura. The aura itself radiated hate.

When she looked closely at that part of the village, she saw a six year old blonde boy walking on the street. What caught her attention was his shadow - it had nine tendrils, which looked like tails. The boy himself radiated a calm and bright aura, while the civilians around him radiated hate and the grey aura towards him. One of the civilians even took a tomato and wanted to throw it at the boy, but was stopped by another civilian who whispered something to the first one.

Although it was just a whisper, and Alicia was very far from there, she could hear what he said. _"Don't anger the demon!"_

Then she saw how everything started losing color wherever the blonde kid went, various insults thrown his way.

_"Demon!"_

_"Scum!"_

_"Kyuubi brat!"_

_"Get away from here!"_

_"Why can't you just die?"_

These were the most often used ones. But despite everything, the kid was smiling and radiating that small aura. And so she watched how the day went for the boy.

When the day was finished, and the boy went to sleep, Alicia was amazed how he kept going after everything the village did to him. She also pitied him.

_"Poor kid. He is no older than six or seven, and he has to endure so much. How can he keep going on after everything? He doesn't even have friends. How can he smile? Could I do the same?"_ she thought, awed at the boy.

Then, the scene changed. She was floating(once again) above a large crater. There were many holes around, some large water puddles. She also saw mountains and forests in the background, but what terrified her the most was HUGE monster standing there. By huge, she meant huge like a mountain. She couldn't see _any _details of the monster, only it's red eyes, which seemed familiar. She then looked below the monster and gasped. There, not very far away from the monster, stood the same boy from before, but this time he had nine red tails with orange tips swinging behind him. The boy turned and lifted his head and looked directly into Alicia's eyes. She gasped. His eyes were like she had never seen before - ripple-like pattern around the blue slitted pupil with a red iris and purple scalera, it also had three white tomoe around the pupil. Then she noticed the boy had some kind of crimson red pigment round his eyes.

The monster let out a demonic and monstrous roar. Alicia screamed for him to run, but to no avail. Her warnings and screaming were silent. She then saw how the boy closed his eyes and how a single tear fell down.

The monster then shot a large stream of black and purple flame at the boy, engulfing him. When the fire died down, she saw no one there. Only a burning crater.

Alicia started to cry for boy's fate. It was so cruel.

* * *

Alicia woke up in a cold sweat, panting, as if she had seen her worst nightmare. Well, she kind of _did_ see a nightmare.

_"Who was that boy?"_ she thought. _"It looked & felt so... real."_

Then, the pain returned to her body and once again, she was unconscious.

* * *

**-Naruto's dream-**

At the same time, Naruto was dreaming a very familiar dream. It was a usual day when he was six years old, but this time he felt something unnatural. As if someone was watching him. But he paid it no attention, thinking it was the villagers.

After he went to sleep, the scene changed. Now he was standing in large crater-like clearing, alone... facing a HUGE monster. He couldn't see any details of it, only its eyes. They were red with some kind of lines in them. It looked dead familiar.

He then felt, again, someone watching him, from above. He knew it wasn't civilians this time, because no one was around. He turned and lifted his head up and saw a girl no older than 9 or 10. He saw her long hair and her deep brown eyes along with rest of her face.

_"Beautiful"_ he thought. And then he heard he monster's roar. He knew this was the end. He saw how the girl was trying to say something; he saw how she was trying to scream, but to no avail. "Probably wishing me a slow death, like everyone else."

He then closed his eyes and felt how a single tear left his eye, as he remembered his life. Then, without pain or anything, he felt dead.

* * *

Naruto woke up in a cold sweat, panting. This was a horrible nightmare.

_"Who was that girl? And the monster?..."_ he thought, _"It looked so...real."_

Then, he just turned around and went back to sleep, seeing it was still night and hoping he won't see the nightmare again.

* * *

**-Somewhere in an unearthly place-**

It looked like endless darkness, filled with millions and millions of white dots, representing stars. You could also see a large globe, representing Earth itself.

There was a woman of godly beauty, with long white hair, which seemed to glow, reaching her ankles. She had on a long, white dress which went past her feet. Said woman was radiating unworldly light around her.

She was overlooking the Earth. A smile appeared on her face, as she said, her voice sounding like double echo **"This is the last time I intervene, Naruto, Alicia. For I believe I made the right choice and you won't make mistakes like the last ones."**

That said, she disappeared in a white flash.

* * *

It has been a week since Naruto left the hospital. He now continues to go to the academy. On the first day of school after his discharge from the hospital, it was like hell to him. He received so much attention. Everyone was asking him questions about the incident, like: what happened there, why didn't he fall under the genjutsu, etc. He had to lie, saying that he didn't remember much and that everything was like looking through fog, but some kids (Shik*cough*ama*cough*ru, Sas*cough*uke) knew he was lying, but decided not to press him on the matter. At least, for now.

After that first day, class settled down, and then everything was like always - boring lectures, Iruka's shouting, Sasuke's fangirls...

And he still didn't contact the fox to talk about the training.

Now, it was a peaceful Friday afternoon. The sun was shining, birds were chirping and other peaceful stuff was happening. Naruto was in the academy, sitting in his spot and daydreaming.

_"I wonder why I can't enter my mindscape now?"_ Naruto thought _"I hope that damn fox didn't lie about the training. I haven't heard anything from him for a week now."_

Suddenly a voice rang in his head **"Hey, kit. You miss me?"**

Naruto was so surprised,he yelped. His classmates gave him a funny look, and Iruka asked him, "Naruto... are you alright?"

Quickly regaining his composure, he sheepishly answered "Hai, Iruka-sensei. I was daydreaming and had a bad dream..."

"Okay... don't sleep in class, Naruto." Iruka admonished, and returned to his lecture.

After that, Naruto pretended to listen to the lecture, but in reality, he was having a chat with his inner fox.

_"How can you talk with me? You said it's impossible to communicate outside the mindscape."_ Naruto mentally said.

**"Long story short - when you activated your Rinnegan in the mindscape and absorbed part of my chakra, several things happened to you. One of them is that we now have a mental link between each other and we can talk. About other things I will tell you tonight, in your mindscape. We will also discuss your training."** Kyuubi answered.

Naruto grinned, when he heard about training. Finally.

_"Okay then. See ya later."_

* * *

**-That night, in Naruto's mindscape-**

**"Before I tell you your training schedule, Let me tell you about several things that happened to you when you absorbed my chakra with your dojutsu."**

When Naruto nodded and sat on the wet floor (it's not like he felt the water anyway), Kyuubi continued,

**"You may think the chakra you absorbed increased your chakra reserves, but that's not true. First of all, it somehow created a mental link between us. This means we can now communicate with each other when we want, and also I can smell, see and hear what you can. Secondly, it somehow changed your body. No-"**

Kyuubi was interrupted by a shouting Naruto, "What do you mean 'changed your body'? I will look different now? What the hell? I-"

And now Naruto was interrupted by the growling Kyuubi. **"Stop interrupting me when I'm talking, brat. It's annoying. Next time listen to what I have to say before asking questions, or I will ignore you for some months. Is that clear?"**

Naruto gulped and quickly nodded. "Sorry, Kyuubi-sensei."

Kyuubi merely nodded and continued **"As I was saying, nothing major. I looked into your body and saw some slight changes. According to what I've seen, your hair will now grow faster, you will receive back all the nutrition you've lost, meaning you will grow how you should have. By that I mean, you're a midget now because you eat only ramen. You body doesn't get any required minerals for growth, that's why you're smaller than others. But it shouldn't be a problem now, just don't forget to eat healthy food. Also, your eyesight will be a bit better now to adjust to your dojutsu. That's everything I could find out. Any questions so far?"**

When Naruto received permission to ask questions, he asked "Does that mean I will grow faster than others and won't be that small anymore?"

Kyuubi rolled his eyes. Wasn't that what he said just now? **"No, you will not grow faster than others, your growth rate has returned to how it **_**should **_**have been. Yes, you won't be a midget anymore."**

"Yatta! Okay then, what about training?" Naruto asked happily.

**"Very well. Now listen carefully. For the next week, after the academy, you will go to any free training ground. There, you will continue to master chakra control. Your Rinnegan allows you to control your chakra more easily, more smoothly, so it shouldn't be hard to master water walking in 3 days. Also, I will teach you Kage Bunshin no Jutsu, which will ****_greatly_**** increase your training speed and effectiveness. After you master Kage Bunshin, I will tell you your training schedule for the next 5 years. Questions?"**

"Umm. How will a Bunshin increase my training speed? And why only for 5 years?" Naruto asked suspiciously. "It can't be true that simple Bunshin can do something like that. If it could, why has one used it?

Kyuubi just grinned, showing all its sharp and pointy teeth. **"You see, Kage Bunshin is not just a **_**simple**_** Bunshin technique. And I believe you are the only one who can effectively use it for training purposes. I will tell you more when I will start teaching it to you. Also, I recommend you spend the weekend finding and buying a simple training sword. It's for your training as well. Now, do as I said. If you get stuck in your water walking, I will give you some pointers, although I believe you will not need them. As to why for 5 years. Well, that's simple. After 5 years you will have become a genin and you won't have much time for training. It doesn't mean you won't get any training at all. After a week, I will wait for you here, in your mindscape. Take care, kit."**

Before Naruto could ask or say something, he was pulled out from his mindscape by invisible force.

* * *

**-Next day, Hokage office-**

"Hey, ojiisan!" Naruto shouted as he entered the Hokage's office by kicking the door open.

Sarutobi sweatdropped. "Hello, Naruto-kun. I see you're quite enthusiastic today. Care to explain what happened?" he said as he gestured at Naruto to take a seat.

"Well, yeah. I will finally start my training. Also, I found out something... interesting." Naruto said, entering his 'Serious mode'.

The old Hokage raised an eyebrow and asked "Hmm? Well, before you tell me what you found out, mind explaining what sort of training you will be doing?"

_**"Don't tell him about the Kage Bunshin."**_ Kyuubi said, within his mind.

_"Huh? Kyuubi? I thought you were sleeping. And why shouldn't I tell him?"_

Naruto could feel Kyuubi rolling his eyes _**"I'm don't sleep day'n'night and wake up only when you come here. I sleep like all humans do. It's strange though, me, a demon sleeping like a human... hmpf." **_Kyuubi said with a small scowl. And then he remembered the other question. _**"Uhh, right. Don't tell him because Kage Bunshin is Kinjutsu."**_

_"Kinjutsu? Wow. You will teach me a kinjutsu?! Am I that awesome?"_ Naruto asked, stars in his eyes.

_**"Yeah, right. Your awesomeness is so great, it sometimes even blinds me."**_ Kyuubi said with sarcasm, _**"Anyway, I'll explain later, as promised. And I keep my promises."**_

With that said, Naruto could feel how Kyuubi disappeared from his mind. Everything happened in less than minute and Sarutobi was still waiting for an answer. He even looked a bit worried.

"Naruto-kun, are you alright? I could swear I saw some sparkling stars in your eyes." He said, with amused tone.

"Huh? Oh, sorry, ojiisan. I just remembered what _someone_ said about my training and I got excited." Naruto answered, emphasizing word 'someone'. He knew there were ANBU listening and guarding the Hokage and he didn't want them to hear about the Kyuubi.

The Hokage understood Naruto meant Kyuubi by 'someone'. "So, what is your training?"

"Well, for the next week I have to master tree and water walking, after that my sensei will give me a training schedule for the next 5 years." Naruto answered with a smile.

"Hmm? Interesting. And why only 5 years?" Hokage curiously asked.

"Because after 5 years, when I'm 13, I will become a genin and I won't have much time for training." Naruto answered honestly. He really hoped it wouldn't be that bad and there will still be time for training. Yeah. Naruto thinks only about training. No social life whatsoever.

"Fair enough. So, what was it that you found out?"

Naruto then regained his serious composure and looked around the room. Then he found what he was searching for - a picture of Yondaime, his father, hanging on the right wall. There were also the pictures of the Shodaime, the Nidaime and Sandaime. He walked closer to it and inspected the picture of his father.

When Sarutobi saw where Naruto was looking and what he was inspecting, sweat bullets appeared on his face, but he tried to look as calm as possible and waited.

_"I hope it's not exactly what he found out." _he nervously thought.

Naruto then took the picture of the Yondaime from the wall, turned to the Hokage and held it next to his face so both faces were next to each other.

"Care to explain?" He seriously asked.

Hokage widened his eyes, and then returned to normal.

"How long?" He asked.

"Since the incident." Naruto honestly answered, indicating who exactly told him such information. "It's true, isn't it?" When he received a slow nod from the Hokage, he continued "I can't understand how I didn't notice it earlier. All the villagers can't or don't want to notice it either. The same golden blonde, spiky hair, same ocean blue eyes, almost the same facial structure, mine being a bit rounder. Hate indeed blinds people." He let out a sigh and placed the picture back in its place. "Just one more question. Is it true that my father wanted me to be seen as a hero, as athe jailer to Kyuubi?"

Sarutobi also sighed and nodded. "Yes. That's true. Unfortunately, these damn villagers won't respect his wishes." he answered, leaking out a bit of killing intent in frustration. When he stopped leaking it, he continued. "Seriously... Everyone loved the Yondaime, but they don't respect his wishes, nor do they believe in his sealing skills. How far has this village fallen?" He finished by asking the rhetorical question to himself.

Naruto just smiled and answered "It doesn't matter how far it's fallen. If my father's last wish was for me to be seen as a hero, then so be it! I will try my hardest to prove I'm not Kyuubi's incarnation and will help this village to regain its Will of Fire! One way or another, it doesn't matter. That's a promise." He said, his voice and eyes full of determination, a warm and calming aura leaking from him, as he spoke his words, making everyone present in the room feel some warmth and peace, making them believe in the blonde.

The Hokage looked at Naruto with a proud smile. Even after everything the village did to him, he still wanted to prove himself.

_"Naruto's Will of Fire burns brightly and I believe sooner or later he will pass it onto the village."_ the Hokage thought.

* * *

**-The ANBU in the room-**

When Naruto took the picture and turned to the Hokage, the ANBU were a bit confused at why he did that. When Naruto spoke and pointed how how similar they were, it hit them like a ton of bricks.

_"No way! That brat is Yondaime-sama's son?"_ one of them thought with shocked eyes. It's not like anyone noticed it anyway, he had a mask on.

_"He... He is sensei's son? Hmm... If you think about it, they look similar. Way too similar."_ the Dog mask wearing ANBU thought. It was none other than Hatake Kakashi.

When the Hokage confirmed it, they almost all fell from their hiding spots. Everyone had similar thoughts:

_"No way! They are indeed similar. And to think that no one noticed it..."_

When Naruto began his little speech, all of them felt awe and growing respect for the blonde (the calming aura doing part of the job *wink* ). All of them started to change their opinion about him. He was indeed strong willed.

* * *

"I'm so proud of you, Naruto. I truly believe you will succeed. Now, is there something else?" The Hokage asked.

Naruto smiled and answered "Thanks, ojiisan. Yes, there's actually one more thing I wanted to ask. Can you give any suggestions on a weapon shop where I can buy a training sword without the tripled prices?"

The Hokage raised an eyebrow and asked him to elaborate on what he meant.

"Huh? Didn't you know? Almost every grocery store either kicks me out or triples the prices for me, saying 'we don't sell to demons'. And those that do let me in just sell me rotten food. Have you never wondered why I'm smaller than others?" Naruto asked in amused tone. Really, THE Hokage had no idea about what happens in HIS village.

When the Hokage heard this, his killer intent leaked out to the whole village. Some civilians started to sweat a bit, knowing there was trouble coming their way.

When Sarutobi calmed down, he said "Come, Naruto. Let's pay a visit some soon-to-bankrupt grocery stores. Then I will also show you a weapon shop where I'm sure you will be _welcomed_."

With that, both of them left the office and Naruto had a mischievous smile.

Also, the Hokage really was getting old. He was completely distracted by Naruto's knowledge about his father and totally forgot about the ANBU who were in his office and heard everything. Let's just say, Naruto will now have a bit more protectors and rumors will start to spread. . .

* * *

**-Time skip, 1 week-**

A week has since passed and Naruto felt great. That day when he and Sarutobi visited some grocery stores, his life became a bit more easier. Why? Because the old Hokage threatened the shop owners - if they ever sold rotten food for tripled price again, they will 'mysteriously' become bankrupt. And if Naruto was not treated like any other paying customer, not only will they become 'mysteriously' bankrupt, all their money will go to Naruto's account for emotional and physical compensation for all the things they did to him. Now all the groceries stores were nicer to him, although he still noticed the hateful glares.

Also, he noticed how some citizens, to be precise - high ranking shinobi, like jounins, were looking at him. Those weren't hateful glares, but instead the look of realization and... respect? Those were very, very few and Naruto couldn't figure out the reason for those looks.

Within a week Naruto had mastered both tree and water walking. Actually, he mastered both of them in two days. He was surprised how easily he did that. Kyuubi told him that Naruto was talented at chakra control, despite its difficult and his new dojutsu just increased that control. The rest of the 5 days he spent increasing his chakra control, thereby increasing his chakra amount as well, also doing more physical workouts. His hair did grow a bit, but was still spiky.

Now he was standing in front of the cage, containing the fox, in his mindscape, awaiting further instructions on his training.

**"I see you finished your training, kit. Good job. Though I will admit, I was surprised when you mastered both tree and water walking in two days. You are talented... if only the teachers at the academy would see that. Now, about your training. In the next two days I want you to learn Kage Bunshin. Before I will explain how it works, do you have any questions?"** Kyuubi asked.

Naruto now knew that interrupting the fox was a bad thing to do, because it pissed Kyuubi off. He now only asked questions and spoke when spoken to. The Lord of the demons acted like a king after all.

"Yeah. I remember you said it will help my training. How?" Naruto asked.

**"Ahh, well, the beauty of this technique is that you get all the memories of the clones when they dispel. Meaning..."** Kyuubi said, allowing Naruto to finish the sentence.

When Naruto saw the Kyuubi's look, he understood what he wanted "... you will get the memory of all the training. So if I create 2 clones, they will cut my training time twice, meaning I can learn jutsu faster. Awesome! But why has no one used this kind of training if it's so effective?" Naruto asked, excited fire burning in his eyes.

**"That's right kit. Kage Bunshin is not kinjutsu for nothing. It requires a lot of chakra to create at least one clone. Only Kage level shinobi can create **_**some**_** shadow clones and remain in good fighting condition. Also, I believe no one else can use this kind of training because of the mental feedback and exhaustion they will get. But you, kit, can create hundreds of them because of your large chakra capacity, and the mental exhaustion will not affect you that much thanks to your natural healing abilities which is also enhanced by my chakra. It means you're one of only a very few peope who are capable of this kind of training."** Kyuubi answered. He could swear he saw some sparkling stars in the blonde's eyes. Kyuubi found that amusing...

Kyuubi then continued to explain how Kage Bunshin worked and all its possibilities. After that, Kyuubi showed him required the handseals. Naruto found it very funny and strange on how Kyuubi performed the handseals. Foxes shouldn't be able to do them, right? Also, Kyuubi explained that the more Naruto poured chakra into the jutsu, the more clones he will produce. In addition, Kyuubi explained that Naruto will have truly mastered the technique when he could summon clones without the handseals. Naruto already knew this was definitely going to be his favorite technique.

After the lecture was finished, Naruto bid his teacher farewell and went back to his training.

**-Time skip, 2 days-**

Naruto stood in the middle of training field 43. It was next to training field 44, also known as the 'Forest of Death'. From time to time you could hear some roaring and hissing from the forest, which was why almost no one used this training field, saying it unnerved them.

Naruto crossed his his fingers, performing the necessary seals for Kage Bunshin no juts. He then collected as much chakra as he could, channeled it through the seal and shouted **"Tajuu Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"**.

There was a large puff of smoke. When the smoke died down, you could see an entire army of Narutos. The original Naruto looked around in awe. He had created approximately 300 clones and felt a bit winded. He used a minute to catch his breath and then ordered ALL of his clones to do chakra control exercises. When he received 'Hai, boss.' from all of them, he decided to relax. Also, he just wanted to check if what Kyuubi had said was indeed true.

At the end of the day, he dispelled all of his clones at once. He shouldn't have done that though, because once they poofed out of existence, Naruto fell to ground and held his head, moaning. It was painful when he received all the memories and feedback from the clones at once .

"Next time I'll order them to dispel in groups of 10 or 20 in 2 minute intervals." he murmured under his breath.

**Later that night, in his mindscape.**

"So, I've learned the simple Kage Bunshin and Tajuu Kage Bunshin. What now?" Naruto asked, excited about his training.

**"Take it easy, kit. And good job learning those jutsus. What's the maximum number of clones you can create?"** Kyuubi asked.

"Well, today I could make about 300 clones before I felt a bit exhausted. After about 1 minute of catching my breath, I felt a lot better." Naruto answered.

Kyuubi widened his eyes, apparently shocked. _**"300 clones? It's impossible for an 8 year old to make that amount, even with his chakra reserves. I guess his new silver chakra is more potent, thus making the jutsus stronger; and his Rinnegan gives him the passive ability to channel his chakra more easily and smoothly, allowing him to make powerful jutsus while conserving chakra. He can get strong in no time." **_thought Kyuubi as he grinned, excited.

"Hey, Kyuubi-sensei, you alright? You seemed like you spaced out for a minute." Naruto asked.

**"Oh, uhh, sorry. I just didn't expect you to make so many clones at such a young age... Now let me think about your training schedule."** Kyuubi answered.

And that's how the next few minutes passed - Naruto sitting in the water, waiting for Kyuubi's answer; and Kyuubi thinking about the schedule.

**"Ok, now listen carefully."** Kyuubi finally said. **"For week one, everyday you will create 200 clones. You will divide them in 5 groups. Group 1 will learn my special 'Kitsune Claw' taijutsu. Group 2 will learn my special 'Kitsune Blade' kenjutsu. Group 3 will learn and practice Fuuton, Suiton and Raiton ninjutsu, as well as your dojutsu. Group 4 will continue on your chakra control, increasing your overall control and amount of chakra you will have. Also, group 4 will do an elemental chakra training. Group 5 will study. And by study I mean go to library and read books on history, tactics etc. And finally the real you will do physical training. Any questions so far?"**

Naruto was a bit awed by all the things he is going to do and he couldn't wait for when his training will start.

"Yes, actually. Why do you have special taijutsu and kenjutsu styles You're a huge fox, one swing of your tail can cause tornadoes." he asked.

Kyuubi shrugged his shoulders (well, as much as the fox could). **"Remember when we first met and I told you how 'something happened and my mind was healed'?"** he then saw how Naruto was deep in thought, but after some seconds Kyuubi received a nod from the blond, so he continued **"Well, this 'something' happened thousand of years ago. When villages weren't formed yet, I found a deeply wounded fox in the forest near Hi no Kuni. Rikudou made me like a fox, so I had a fox's instincts and seeing another fox in pain was painful for me. So I decided to help. I took the fox and infused it with a large amount of my chakra. Back then, my chakra wasn't demonic, it was pure and brought life, but it was still dangerous to pour my chakra into other beings. I still don't know how that fox survived, but imagine my surprise when I woke up and saw the same fox, but with two tails and a bit larger. It was the first half demon, half animal. Thousands of years passed, the fox mated and brought kits to life. Slowly, these kits were becoming more and more demonic, gaining more and more intellgence until they become full time demons like me. But the difference was they could never reach my power as well as they would never go insane or mad like I can. In other words, thousands years of later, a Fox clan appeared and I was their head. After that I decided to to create my own summoning contract and brought all the foxes to the summoning realm. Why I did I do so? Because of my mission. When they heard what my mission was, the foxes agreed (obviously) to help me and over time developed these two styles to aid their summoners. After another thousands of years they created and developed their own sage mode and sage style."** when Kyuubi finished, he let out a sigh **"Uff, I really hate these 'tell me your past' questions... They are usually so long."**

Naruto looked at fox with the excitement and awe. To think that Kyuubi, the great Demon Lord had it's own fox clan. How awesome was that? But then Naruto remembered something "Well, that's just awesome. But what is this mission you speak so much about?"

Kyuubi grinned **"Well, it's simple. When Rikudou created us, he gave us a mission - IF we are sealed in a person who had the same eyes as his, we are required to help and aid them. That's why before you leave, I will give you a summoning contract to sign. Any questions?"**

"Hmm, that makes sense. I can't figure out how Rikudou-sama knew about any new disaster coming to the world, but it makes sense how he would want you to help me. After all, you've got thousands and thousands of years of experience and knowledge as well as at basic information and understanding of his dojutsu. Anyway, I don't have any questions, just a request." Naruto said, with a serious expression, although you still could see some sparks from the stars in his eyes.

**"Hm?"**

"Can I train my dojutsu on my own, without using clones?" Before Kyuubi could ask him to elaborate, Naruto continued "It's just unfair and seems like cheating if I learn everything using clones. That's why I want to train my bloodline without using clones. Also, it didn't sound like I will have anything else to do, aside from physical training."

**"Well, fair enough. It will also be easier to instruct you. Right, let's continue on with the training schedule. For week two, Group 1 will continue to learn taijutsu as well as spar with each other, the same goes for Group 2 with kenjutsu. Group 3 will learn and practice Katon and Doton ninjutsu. Group 4 will work on your kunai and shuriken throwing and dodging skills. Group 5 will continue to study in the library. And you will do physical workouts as well as dojutsu training. Week 1 will be first, after that will be week 2 and after that one, you will do week 1 schedule again and so on. Questions?"**

"Yes. When do we start and what about weekends?"

Kyuubi grinned. He had started to like Naruto's excitement for training. **"We start on Thursday. And on weekends you can just do physical workouts in the morning and relax for the rest of the day."**

When he finished speaking, Kyuubi placed its paws in Ram seal (it looked weird) and a scroll poofed into existence out of nowhere. It was strange how Kyuubi could summon things in his mindscape... Kyuubi tossed the scroll to Naruto and spoke **"Bite your thumb and write your full name on the scroll and leave your fingerprint under it."**

Naruto opened the scroll and found it to be completely blank. It didn't surprise him though, as he was the first summoner ever. He did as he was told and wrote his full name in kanji and left the fingerprint. After he completed the procedure, the scroll closed and poofed back to its home world.

**"Good job, Naruto. I will show you the required handseals later. Now it's time for you to wake up. Soon we will start your training. Oh, and I want you to continue to act as a dobe. Remember, 'deception is a ninja's greatest weapon'. If people underestimate you, it means easier victory."** Kyuubi said as he grinned.

Naruto didn't want to show off anyway and acting as a dobe was fun too. And he just knew this training would cause him a lot of pain...

* * *

**-with Alicia, a week earlier (After the night she got her bloodline)-**

It was late afternoon now, the sun was high in the sky, shining brightly and its rays were warming up the small village.

Alicia woke up and moaned, her entire back was hurting. She shuffled slowly to her bathroom, did all her ablutions and then took a shower. She wasn't even surprised at her new hair, because she knew that some things change in the body when the bloodline is awakened. After that, she went back to the main hall and remembered everything that happened - how her grandfather died and how she awakened her Valkyrie bloodline. She then remembered the key and secret chamber.

She went to the far right corner of the room, bit her thumb and smeared some of the blood on the wall. It looked completely random, but Alicia knew better. After that, a red and white seal array appeared on the wall, indicating she was allowed to enter. Then, the seal disappeared and the wall lifted up, revealing a hidden passage going downstairs.

When Alicia got to the basement, the corridor there was very narrow with various line patterns in different thickness and color running along the wall until they reached a door at the end of the corridor. The young girl went closer to the door and noticed how beautiful it was. It was a silver door with a beautiful woman drawn on it. The woman wore some kind of long battle dress, held a wide sword and she had a pair of angel-like wings behind her.

Alicia really liked how the woman looked. _"So that's what our bloodline looks like. I only heard the stories and never saw the pictures."_ she thought.

Alicia then took out the key and inserted it in the keyhole and turned it several times until she heard a 'click' sound. The door started to glow until it vanished.

She went inside the room and couldn't help but stare in awe at everything there was. There was a bookshelf with various scrolls and books in it, there also was a chest with money and various weapons like swords, bows, kunai, shuriken and some ancient weapons. At the end of the room was a manikin. The manikin was dressed in beautiful garb. It consisted of a long, white dress, with a slit starting from its hip on the right and going down until it reached mid shin, fully uncovering the right leg, but hiding the left one. The dress was made up of pure white feathers. *1* Over the dress was a small, dark brown leather vest held in place by tiny ropes. The whole costume also came with very long dark brown leather boots which were also made in the vest's style.*2*. Said costume was completed by leather arm guards with small metal plates in it, which nearly reached the manikin's elbows.

"Wow. It looks beautiful. I bet that's the costume previous valkyries wore. It will be too big for me right now, though. I will have to wait 'till I grow up a bit." Alicia said to herself. Little did she know that there were seals placed on the costume that allows it to shrink in size in order for it to fit the wearer as well as a seal which always keeps it clean.

Behind the manikin was a large metal plate with engraved text -

_It will be harsh in the world,_  
_Whoredom runs rife_  
_An axe age, a sword age_  
_Shields are riven_  
_Before the world goes headlong._  
_No man will have mercy on another._  
_And then,_  
The l_ast Valkyrie will be born._  
_Her pure soul will help the man_  
_With sacred power and eyes to heal the land._

"The prophecy... Now I just need to find this man." she murmured as she read the prophecy.

She then carefully took the clothes off the manikin and sealed it in a scroll. It's a good thing that she learned from her ojiisan how to use sealing scrolls. She continued to pick various jutsu scrolls that will help her in her training as well as some money. When she had finished taking everything she needed, she left the room. The door reappeared with a transparent-white flash, and you could hear a 'click' sound, indicating the door was now was closed.

Alicia left her clan house and walked towards the village's market in order to buy some supplies for her journey. As she walked on the street, she noticed how everyone was giving her looks of awe and respect. Everyone already knew she was the last Valkyrie.

After an hour, she was standing near the village gates. She turned around and saw that almost all the villagers had come to bid their farewell and wish her good luck on her journey.

"Good luck on your journey, valkyrie-sama!" some random woman said.

"Don't forget about us!" another one said.

"We will always remember and cheer for you!" a young man sad.

"Thanks, guys!" Alicia said, tears forming in her eyes. She was leaving her home village after all... But she didn't want to look weak in front of so many people, so she just wiped her tears and with a bright smile said "I won't let you down! Your support means a lot to me."

As the people in village cheered her on, she slowly began to walk away from her village.

Her first destination was some village near Kumo. She tried to avoid large shinobi villages, fearing someone will find out about her bloodline and force her to become their ninja. She couldn't stay in her home as well, because she had a mission - to train, gain knowledge of the world and to find that one man she needed to help. With determination in her eyes and a clear target in mind, she set out on her journey.

* * *

**END! When I'll finish next chapter (6th chapt.) I'll return to previous ones and do some reconstructing, which includes improving some grammar (can't promise anything on this one), spelling and maybe a little content (nothing major so you won't have to re-read the chapter ^_^)**

***1* Imagine Fang's dress (FFXIII), but instead of blue it is white and made entirely of long feathers (like Lightning's skirt or whatever it's called in FFXIII-2)**

***2* **deviant art (c.o.m / art/Dark-Valkyrie-152442209** Only vest and boots.**

**And I know that prophecy is a bit lame.**

******If you like what you read and if you favorited me, make sure to check my facebook page. The link is in my profile.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Thanks for reviews. And sorry if I have some grammar problems, English is not my first language (although I live in UK). I'm trying to improve though and I'm still searching for beta. I hope it doesn't ruin the story. Please, if you spot some grammar problem, tell it in review so I can improve on my next one.  
**

**And sorry for the late update. I promised to update twice, but i changed my mind. I decided to combine those two chapters and make one, because I didn't want to spent any more time in this time period.  
**

**splitheart1120: read and find out :P Naruto will be strong, but not overly. Alicia will not be as strong as Naruto though, because she isn't able to do Kage Bunshin training.  
**

**On with the chapter then.**

* * *

**-Chapter 3-**

**-Timeskip: 1 year-**

It was a Sunday evening and Naruto, now 9 years old, was walking in silent Konoha streets, relaxing and enjoying the fresh evening air, as well as thinking about the past year. A lot had changed.

Firstly, his appearance. Nothing major here, but still something noticeable. He grew up a little, as Kyuubi said, as well as his hair got longer. His hair now almost reached his shoulders, but was still spiky.

Secondly, Naruto got to know Kyuubi better. The fox seemed to be friendly as long as you don't interrupt him while he is speaking. For some reason, it really annoyed him. Also, they now were some kind of friends. They didn't talk much outside of the training, but they gad mutual respect to each other. They would sometimes crack some jokes, but those moments were very few. Also, Kyuubi was a ruthless sensei. When Naruto would be too tired to do something, or failed something, Kyuubi would always somehow taunt him and scold him to continue.

As for his training, he now could compare himself with a high genin - low chuunin level shinobi. His chakra control was amazing for a ninja with very large chakra reserves. His ninjutsu training was great as well. Kyuubi guesses Naruto had natural talent for ninjutsu and chakra control; like it was in his blood. Also, he was smarter; spending days in library did its work. His taijutsu was okay. He loved the style, but it was hard to master.

'Kitsune Claw' style relies on fast movements and quick counterattacks. Also, this style doesn't uses fists, instead they use fingers for quick and painful stabs - a person sends chakra to all his fingers and reinforces them, making them harder and stronger. Kyuubi said that with an excellent chakra control and good training, Naruto would be able to extend his chakra from the fingers and make chakra claws, or when used his chakra cloak his nails would be longer and sharper on their own, which is also the part of this style.

His kenjutsu was okay as well; just like 'Kitsune Claw', 'Kitsune Blade' relied mostly on parrying, counterattacking and quick stabs. Both of these styles relied on speed and that's why Naruto now had an addition to his dream - he wanted to be as fast or even faster than his dad. No... he wanted to be just like his father, if not better - acknowledged, loved and strong. He wanted to be a hero just like the Yondaime was.

His dojutsu training was going well either, but much slower than everything else, because Naruto didn't use clones to train. He and Kyuubi discovered very interesting ability of the right eye. They called it "Marking". Now Naruto was working on his gravity manipulation and increasing the number of 'points' Naruto can 'mark'.

Furthermore, he had good relationship with foxes. Some weeks after signing the contract, he tried to summon a fox. After some tries he managed to summon two simple, one-tailed foxes. One was yellow with white tip at the end of the tail, and the other was black with blue tip. After they were summoned, both of them wanted to attack Naruto, but when they saw the whisker marks and felt a presence of Kyuubi, they put two and two together and changed their minds. Surprisingly, they could talk...

**_-Flashback-_**

"We're sorry, host of the Kyuubi. It is the first time when we're summoned. Imagine our surprise to appear here in the middle of our dinner." the yellow fox said.

"WOW! THEY TALK!" Naruto shouted, clearly surprised.

**"Idiot. I think I told you all the foxes are intelligent and can speak."** Kyuubi said within Naruto's mind.

"You told me they are intelligent, but you never mentioned they could talk." the blond answered.

**"Oh right... Whatever."** the fox replied and cut the link. Sometimes, fox could really be annoying.

"Uhh, right, sorry about that. So, what's your names and why are you _both _here. Aren't summons suppose to appear alone?" Naruto asked.

"My name is Yara and her name is Yoru." said the yellow fox. The speaking sounded like yipping out the words. It was really strange, but for some reason Naruto could clearly understand them.

"To answer your second question, you're right, usually summons appears alone. But we're not your 'usual type' of summons. You see, we have different classes and ranks in our world. They are determined by number of our tails. Usually one tails and two tails are scouts and medics. Me and Yara are scouts, and scouts always appears in pairs in order to boost our effectiveness of information gathering." Yoru answered. Her voice sounded more feminine than Yara's.

Naruto was listening very carefully, trying not to miss any details. "Oh I see. That's interesting system there. Can you tell more?" he asked.

"Umm, not today. As it is our first time in this world, we would like to... explore. By the way, what's your name?" Yara said.

_"Great... two scout foxes searching for adventure in foreign world..." _he thought.

"The name's Uzumaki-Namikaze Naruto. But you can call me just Naruto!" Naruto said as he gave a good guy pose and thumbs up.

"Ok then, Naruto-sama. While we're in this world, do you have any requests? I mean, we're scouts after all." Yoru said with small fox-ish smile.

"Please forget about honorifics, I hate them." Naruto said as he put his hand on the chin. He looked to be deep in thought, before his eyes gleamed with bright light... "YES! I actually have a request to you two. As I will become a genin in near future, I want you to gather all the information on possible jounin senseis. In case we're fighting, wherever training or a test, I would really like an edge in the battle. In shinobi world information is very important." Naruto said, before muttering "Well, that's what I read anyway... Right, do you know of our ninja system?"

"Of course, Naruto-_sama_. We're being educated on human world and we know how to tell the difference between the ranks. Is that all, Naruto-_sama?_" Yoru said, emphasizing the -sama. Why? Just to annoy Naruto.

Naruto's eyebrow twitched. "You're doing that on purpose, right?" He didn't receive an answer. His eyebrow twitched even more. "Whatever, that's all."

And with that, the foxes were gone.

**_-Flashback end-_**

Naruto sighed. Although foxes were friendly, they were tricksters. They somehow managed to annoy him and that was frustrating.

His social life was getting better either. He still didn't have many friends, but he sometimes was going out with Shikamaru and Chouji. It was a nice company, where Shikamaru sometimes would challenge him to a shogi game and Chouji would challenge to eating contest. Both of these boys knew Naruto was only acting as an idiot, but they promised to keep it a secret, understanding the reasons. In the academy, Naruto would sometimes even talk with Sasuke, who sits next to him. The guy seemed to be ok, but he had some social problems. Naruto couldn't find out what exactly.

About the academy.

Now, with Mizuki's death, a new assistant has been assigned for Iruka. Her name was Kurenai Yuhi and she was really beautiful woman. Kurenai had long, black, shoulder-length hair, and very unique eyes that are red in color. She wears make-up consisting of red lipstick and purple eye shadow. Her regular outfit consists of a red mesh armour blouse with only the right sleeve visible. Over the blouse is very broad material which resembles bandages with a pattern on it similar to those of rose thorns. Her hands and upper thighs are also wrapped in bandages and she wears the Konoha hitai-ate and regular shinobi sandals.

Kurenai will assist Iruka for one more year before she will go and try jounin exams. As she said, she needed some experience with kids if she wanted to take a genin team. And she was a better teacher than Mizuki ever was anyway.

Also, when she saw the fan girls, she became furious about them. They were disgrace to kunoichi. That day she asked Iruka for separate room and asked all the girls to come. There she told them about real kunoichi life - about how men looked down upon them, about the possibilities of rape and death. She told them that without skill they will die on their first real mission and that they will be cause of teammate's death because of their weakness. She also said that sitting on diet and running around and worshiping Sasuke won't make them better or stronger. One girl tried to protest, saying how great 'her Sasuke-kun' was and will always protect her. Kurenai became so angry, she cast the weakest genjutsu (where Sasuke was being beaten up) on the girl and threw her out of the academy (of course, with Iruka's approval). She said to girls: _"You better quit the academy now, than continue this 'fan-girlism', because if you die and take your teammates with you, no one is gonna be sorry for you. Everyone will think how weak and pathetic you were to drag your teammates with you. If I will ever see some fan-girlism, I will make sure you're kicked out of here!"_

With that, everything changed. Boys could see that most of the girls started to be serious about being a ninja. Sakura and Ino were example of this - their grades became better and they sometimes put more effort in physical training. Both of them still 'loved' Sasuke, but now they didn't show it so much, which Sasuke was grateful for. Some of the girls weren't impressed with Kurenai's speech and continued to fawn over 'their Sasuke-kun', but after some days, they never came back to school._  
_

And lastly, the villagers. Naruto didn't know why, but it was a bit more pleasantly to walk on streets. There were still many who gave him a dark glare of hate, but there also appeared some people who gave him a look of disbelief, sympathy, recognition and respect. Those were mostly of ninja families. Naruto never approached them to ask about their looks, and the people never approached him either. Naruto still couldn't understand the reason for these looks.

Naruto let out a sigh and went for his apartment. It was already late and tomorrow's a new week, meaning another boring lectures. Geez, he already knew everything what academy is teaching... Hell no, he knew more than fresh genin would know.

* * *

**-Timeskip: 1 week-**

In Hokage's office Homura and Koharu, two Konoha council elders and Hokage's advisers, along with Hiruzen were listening to Itachi's report.

Itachi was a double agent: he was spying for Uchiha clan by gathering various information from council and shinobi activities towards their clan, as well as he was a spy for Hokage in the Uchiha clan. Itachi was very loyal shinobi and loved Konoha more than his clan, though.

"Hmm... these are really troubling news, Itachi. Are you sure they correct?" Asked the old hokage as Itachi finished his report.

"Yes, Hokage-sama. The Uchiha is planning a coup d'état. They say the village doesn't respect the way the should and that they don't receive the power they deserve" Itachi let out a sigh before continuing "Their attitude sometimes sickens me. Their arrogance has gone beyond normal."

"What will you do about it, Hiruzen?" Homura asked.

"Call the Uchiha clan head here.. I will speak with Fugaku and try to solve it peacefully." Hokage answered. He really didn't like this situation and he didn't believe peace talks will do good any longer.

"You can't really believe it's gonna work, can you?" Koharu skeptically asked.

"What else do you suggest? Slaughter an entire clan? Questions may rise and if the truth leaks out to public, a civil war may start and that's exactly what I don't want to happen - more lives to be losen." Hokage tried to reason.

"True, but what if one ninja would kill an entire clan and then is marked as missing-nin? I think that's a good idea, don't you think so, Homura?" Koharu asked, ignoring the look of disbelief on Itachi's face.

"That is an option, but who will be foolish enough to sacrifice everything they archived just for the sake of the village?" Homura replied.

There was a moment of silence. In this moment Itachi thought about his life in the village, his clan, brother and many other things. Gathering his resolve and courage, he volunteered.

"I will do it. I will become a missing-nin in order to protect this village. Uchiha has causing too much trouble and coup d'état is the last straw in my patience. Uchiha should be honorable and be a prime example of what a ninja should be like. But instead, they've sink in their own arrogance, the quality of Uchiha ninja is fallen, because they rely only on Sharingan. It is a shame to be in their clan." Itachi said with strong resolve.

Basically, Hokage and the two elders were shocked with Itachi's volunteering and his reasons. Itachi was their strongest shinobi, and it seems he was also the most loyal. It was also surprising to see such emotions in him.

"But you're our best shinobi. We can't lose you." Homura tried to reason.

"It doesn't matter. There's no one else who could efficiently kill an entire clan and come out alive. Furthermore, when I become a missing-nin, I can protect the village from the outside. I will always be a loyal nin of the village and I will protect it when the need will arise."

All three elders sadly smiled. Itachi was such a good ninja at such a young age. But they really didn't have any choice.

"It seems we don't have a choice." Koharu said as she let out a sigh, "We won't have any sharingan users left in the village. It will cripple our military force."

"Letting them stay alive will cripple our force even more when Uchiha will rise a civil war to overthrow Hokage-sama. But I have a solution. I will keep my brother, Sasuke, alive." Itachi answered.

"Are you sure it's a good idea? After seeing what happened to his clan he will seek revenge. He would leave village at any chance to get more power and would live in hatred. This situation is too familiar to me... Just like the case with Orochimaru." the old Hokage sadly said.

At mentioning the snake Sannin, everyone winced (except for Itachi who kept indifferent face).

"I will make sure he stays in the village for right reasons and would not betray it. But there's a favor I will have to ask you." Itachi said. Seeing interested faces of the elders, he continued "Do NOT spoil him. He will be 'the last Uchiha' and people would offer him any help - free jutsu scrolls, free food, anything. If it happens, he will get arrogant just like the rest of the clan. Now he is pure and I've made sure he stayed like that so far. Thank Kami father couldn't influence him."

"As you wish, Itachi, I'll make sure Sasuke-kun won't be spoiled. When you will execute the plan?" Hokage asked.

"Tonight. The sooner, the better."

"Good luck Itachi. And thank you for you sacrifice."

"Of course, Hokage-sama."

* * *

**-That night- **

It was a deep night in Konoha, full moon illuminating the streets, giving some light to those who stayed late outside. It was also one of those rare full moons which gave creepiness to the air. Uchiha Sasuke was one of the few who weren't asleep now. He was returning home from nearby woods where he spent his day training, but he lost track of time and stayed there until now. As he got closer to Uchiha district, something felt off to him. He couldn't tell what exactly, but something definitely was wrong.

He ran.

Soon, he reached the gates. Usually there would two gate guards, but today there were none. Also, Sasuke felt strange scent in the air. He didn't know it, but it was scent of the blood.

He entered the streets of the district and froze. There were countless bodies laying in the puddle of blood and sometimes you cold even see some insides and gore on the streets. All of them were dead. Sasuke noticed they were from Uchiha.

"Oh Kami, what the hell happened here?" He muttered. Then he realized something "Tou-san, Nii-san.."

He feared they died as well, so Sasuke hurried back home, ignoring all the bodies. Tears started to form in his eyes as he ran "Nii-san, please don't die. Don't leave me alone!"

He entered his house and notice the lights were off and it was too quiet.

"Maybe they're just sleeping." he hoped.

He run towards father's room to check on him. As he entered, he saw something what he will always remember.

There was Itachi standing, his tanto stuck in Fugaku's chest and his bloody clothes had some scratches. When Itachi pulled his tanto out, Fugaku's body fell to ground lifeless. Itachi heard someone entered the room and he was ready to strike again, until he saw it was his younger brother. He sheathed his tanto and walked towards Sasuke with small smile, which was very rare for Itachi.

"Sasuke-'' Itachi started, but was interrupted.

"W-why, Nii-san? W-why? Why d-did you k-killed everyone?" Sasuke asked as he backed away from Itachi until finally reaching a wall. He looked into Itachi's eyes and gasped - they looked like never before. His eyes looked like sharingan, but it was a bit different. A red eyes with some kind of pinwheel or shuriken in it. "A-and what's with y-your eyes?"

Itachi stopped and looked into Sasuke's eyes.

"I'm sorry, Ototo, but it had to be done. For the sake of the village."

"Sake of the v-village? What are you talking about?"

Itachi sighed. It will not be easy. "Sorry, but I can't tell you. Can you answer my question?"

Sasuke nodded. But he nodded because he was afraid, not because he wanted to answer his question.

"Do not fear me, Sasuke. I would never harm you, you're too precious to me, just like this village. Tell me, do you have any precious things or people what you love and would protect until the last breath?"

Sasuke didn't fully understand the question, but he tried to answer "Precious people? Who I love? W-well it would be you, Itachi and I would like to protect you, but you're strong enough so you don't need my protection..."

Itachi smiled. It was one of those rare, true smiles. "Thanks, Ototo. But what about the village? Do you love the village and would you like to protect it?"

"Well, I-I guess so. I'm born here and I live here after all..."

"I see. Remember this, Sasuke. Do not hate me nor village, find friends here, create bonds. Friendship and a wish to protect those precious to you will make you truly strong. I have given you freedom from your father, so you don't have to be afraid to make friends. Follow my footsteps - become strong, don't be arrogant, train really hard and don't rely just on Sharingan. And protect this village, like I just did. Today I protected my friends, village and most importantly... my family, from the harm of Uchiha clan. When you will be older, I will answer your questions, but for now, live happy life and rebuild the Uchiha clan to its former glory, where all the members had high sense of honor. Do not seek me, but know, I will always love and protect you wherever you would be. Farewell, my foolish little brother. **Tsukuyomi!**" Itachi said.

The last thing Sasuke saw, were single tear coming from Itachi's eyes. Then, the world shifter to black and white with red moon casting a red light throughout the place, creating a cloudy atmosphere with red background.

* * *

**-Tsukuyomi world-**

Suddenly, Konoha appeared in the distance. Sasuke ran towards it in hope to talk to his brother again or to get some help from other ninjas. When he reached the gates, a sudden explosion was heard in the village. Within the seconds, all the village was aflame.

"No." Sasuke muttered as he backed away from the village, "No no no no, what the hell! HELP!" He shouted in true horror. He then turned away and run in opposite direction until he somehow reappeared in his academy class.

"Hey emo! You're late!" Naruto shouted.

"Sasuke, what happened? It's the first time you're late to academy." Iruka asked.

Sasuke couldn't believe he is here... He just saw the village burn, but nonetheless he was relieved to see them.

"Iruka-sensei! The village is burning!"

"What? Don't talk nonsense. Go and sit in your place." Iruka said, a bit angry.

Sasuke wanted to protest, but he couldn't because... he saw a giant spear shot out from Iruka's chest, with his heart at the end, which was still beating until it stopped.

Sasuke screamed in true horror. His own heart started to beat faster and he barely could stand on his legs. He turned his head and saw how his classmates didn't even notice it. He looked at Shikamaru, who was peacefully sleeping, when suddenly Shikamaru started to scream and burn in white flames, until nothing but ash remained.

Still, no one noticed it. He glanced at Ino who was arguing with Sakura, when suddenly she exploded into a blood and gore. Sasuke let out a scream. He quickly looked at Naruto who was making another prank. As he set his eyes on Naruto, the blond was impaled by metal spear out from nowhere, just like Iruka.

Sasuke screamed again and again for the next 10 hours, everywhere he looked, he saw death. But then he realized something. It was more painful to watch them die than see his clan members dead. Is that what Itachi meant by precious people? He shut his eyes and felt a bit... relaxed?

* * *

**-Real world-**

Roughly 2 seconds has passed in real world.

Itachi saw Sasuke's eyes snap open. Itachi was relieved that his plan worked. Sasuke's eyes changed - they now had red iris, black pupil and one tomoe in each eye around the pupil. Itachi managed to awaken Sasuke's sharingan by giving him emotional pain, although Itachi tried to not be rough so Sasuke wouldn't have any mental damage, he still succeeded. Furthermore, he killed two birds with one stone - not only he tried to awaken Sasuke's sharingan, he also tried to show what he meant by 'precious people'.

"I'm sorry, Sasuke, for doing this, but remember what did I told you." Itachi said. He quickly approached Sasuke and poked his forehead with his index and middle fingers. With that, Sasuke fell to ground unconscious and last thing he saw was Itachi's smile. But before Sasuke could touch the ground, Itachi catched him and gently placed on the ground.

Then Itachi quickly checked his supplies and got the items he was missing from the various houses in the compound, he still had some time before other ninjas would arrive. He quickly created a Kage Bunshin and sent it to safe exit from the village. Meanwhile, the real Itachi went the opposite direction of the clone, to the village gates. Every 15 meters he would cast a strong and wide area of effect genjutsu so no one could see him. After a while, he finally reached the gates. He looked at village for one last time before leaving. He would wander the elemental nation, gather various information and protect his village from the outside. Just like one Jiraya-sama did.

**-With clone-**

When the clone finally reached the Uchiha district's east wall, he climbed over it without fear of being detected. On the other side there was a man waiting for him. The man wore a black coat with red clouds on it and an orange, spiraling mask.

"So, how was it?" The man asked.

"Everything is OK. No one saw me." 'Itachi' answered.

"Great, now you're officially a member of Akatsuki. Here's your coat and a ring." the masked man said and gave 'Itachi' both belonging.

'Itachi' didn't accept them though. "No. I'm not joining your criminal organization. I know you're not Madara Uchiha as you state. And don't even bother trying to find me, because it will be proven to be difficult, if not impossible. I'm already gone." he said and poofed out of existence.

The masked man was seething with anger. He was tricked so easily. Itachi said he will join them only so he wouldn't be interrupted from anything he was doing. The man tried to find the smallest trace of Itachi's chakra, but as Itachi said, it was impossible.

"You will regret this, Itachi." the man said as he disappeared in swirl of vortex which came from his right eye.

* * *

Four days have passed since the massacre and Sasuke finally was released from the hospital. He couldn't remember how or who had taken him to hospital, but he didn't really care.

He entered the Uchiha compound and noticed that the streets were clean , without any blood or bodies.

"I guess Hokage ordered to clean up here." Sasuke muttered.

He continued his way up the street and tried to ignore all the memories of that night, until he finally reached his house. He hesitated to enter, but eventually he did. He walked up the stairs and approached his room. There, on the bedtime table, was a piece of paper; something was written on it.

Sasuke took it and read.

_"Ototo, I'm sorry. I didn't want you to see what you saw, but I had no choice. It was my parting gift. Everything you saw that night, even the genjutsu in the end -yes it was a genjutsu- was to awaken your sharingan. You're now full member of Uchiha clan. Please don't hate me or village or anyone else. Remember what I've told you. Make me proud and protect the village and your friends. When time will come, I will tell you everything. Here, on this table I've left some pills and a key. Key is from our clan library, where various scrolls on nin-, tai-,gen- and kenjutsu is stored. Pills are to heal your mental damage which I did when I cast that genjutsu on you. It will also help you forget that night. Tsunade-sama, one of the Sannin, herself made them. She says the ingredients for these pills are very rare on to use only in emergency, and now is the emergency, so take them now. Take care, Sasuke. Love you. _

_Your niisan, Itachi."_

When Sasuke finished reading, he smiled. That night he thought Itachi turned to emotionless murderer, but that wasn't the case. He took the pills and he felt how the headache began to fade. Sasuke then decided to see what's in the library, maybe he would pick up something interesting and train. He didn't have anything better to do anyway. _  
_

* * *

**-Timeskip: 2 weeks-**

Naruto was trying to find Sasuke. The only problem was that he didn't know where to find him, so he just wandered the village aimlessly in hopes to find him. The reason he wanted to find him was just to talk. Everyone knew about the Uchiha massacre. Sasuke was now alone, without family, even without friends and he couldn't understand why Sasuke never tried to make friends, but he guessed it was something to do with Uchiha arrogance and pride. Still, Naruto knew how it is to be alone and he just wanted to help his classmate. Maybe they will finally become friends, seeing how they shared the same situation.

After two hours of searching he subconsciously reached Uchiha district's lake. He couldn't even remember how he came here; it looked like he spaced out while walking around the village.

It was beautiful place, though. Various flora was surrounding the lake. It should be fascinating at the sunset.

The lake was pretty big. There was also a footbridge which reached 1 mile into the lake. At the end of that bridge there was a lonely figure sitting, its feet in the water. Naruto sighed. Finally he found the person he was looking for.

After 5 minutes of slight jogging he finally reached Sasuke. He heard how he was panting a little. As he finally reached him, he shouted "Hey, Emo!"

Sasuke didn't even need to turn around to see who was calling for him. Only one person called him 'emo'. "I'm not 'emo', dobe. What do you want?"

"Well you act like emo. I just wanted to see how are you doing after what happened. You seem more distant than before." Naruto said. He always cared for his classmates after the incident with Mizuki. Even for emo like Sasuke.

"I'm fine. Now leave me alone." Sasuke shot back. It was still painful for him to talk about that night. He felt better about it, after he took the pills, but it was still sore subject for him.

"Jeez, Sasuke. If you will continue to act that way you will feel worse than now." Naruto seriously said. He didn't want anyone to feel what he felt - total loneliness.

"What would you know? You don't know how it is to lose your family. Yours is still al-" he then stopped. He remembered that Naruto didn't have parent at all. Naruto even didn't know who were they. No one knew, but Sasuke didn't like to make people feel bad if they didn't have family. "Sorry. I forgot."

"It's okay, Sasuke. I've already accepted that fact." he paused for a second, thinking his next words, "Sasuke, you're right." Sasuke turned around and looked at him curiously. Naruto continued "I don't know how it is to lose family. But I know how it is to be alone. I know how it is without loved ones, friends and family. I know how it is to go home, knowing that no one is waiting for you. I know the loneliness, Sasuke. You can't image how it is to live like that for 9 years. But unlike you, Sasuke, I was also hated and despised. I don't even want to remember my past, because there was a period when I wanted to hurt everyone who hurt me. I even wanted to die or run away from the village.

But then I entered the academy. But even there I couldn't make friends, because parents told their children to stay away from one Naruto Uzumaki. Then I started to do pranks just to be noticed. Until the trip. There I finally befriended Shikamaru and Choji. And I even got to know you a little, although you still seemed distant. I guess it was Uchiha pride and arrogance.

There, when Mizuki betrayed us, I was afraid for everyone. I didn't want them to be hurt. My wish to protect them... To protect my precious people - Iruka-sensei, who is like an older brother to me and my new friends - I awakened my power. It was me who saved everyone that day. Sasuke, if you will continue to ignore everyone and stay alone, you will get mad. One day, you will just turn your back on the village and do something wrong. I don't really think it's something you would like to do." With his speech finished, he put his hands behind his head in relaxed manner, turned around and slowly started to walk away. He really hoped his words would reached Sasuke.

Sasuke was shocked by Naruto's speech. Naruto was supposed to be an idiot, and here he was hearing such words from him. He was shocked about how he felt in the past, although he partly knew his past. And again, he was shocked because Itachi told him very similar words.

Get stronger by protecting precious people...

Make friends...

Loneliness...

And what was that power Naruto told him about? He thought maybe Itachi was right. He will give it a shot. He will try to make friends. Maybe it will help him to forget that night... Maybe what Naruto said about hurting someone out of loneliness was true... Maybe he will get stronger by making bonds...

Too much maybes. He decided to try. And he will start today, with Naruto. After all, Naruto was the only one he talked the most.

"Naruto... Wait." Sasuke called out.

Naruto stopped and turned his head, curious what the emo wanted now. He didn't believe his words reached him THAT fast. "Yes?"

"I... I was afraid to make friends..." Sasuke muttered. Naruto barely heard him.

"Huh? Afraid? Why?" Naruto asked now fully turning and facing still sitting Sasuke.

"I wanted to make friends, but I was afraid from my father. My clan is not how it used to be. In the past, Uchiha clan was noble, powerful and had a sense of honor. But now, they wanted more power, wealth and whatsoever. Uchiha were so arrogant. I... I wanted to make friends, but my father told me not to make contact with 'low class people'. He said that other than Hyuuga, no one was worth our time and that by interacting with 'low class people' in friendly manner was beneath us, he said it was disgrace to our clan. I really didn't believe him and my brother, Itachi... He said not to fear my father and to make friends, but I was afraid. My father was a powerful man, and he had short temper. And I didn't want to bring shame to my clan." Sasuke explained. That's the first time he told anyone about that. It felt somehow... relieving.

So that's why Sasuke was so cold to everyone. Now he finally understood. "Well, that's just plain stupid. Look what happened to them, they died of their own arrogance. For some reason I've never liked the Uchiha anyway." seeing the sad look on Sasuke's face, he thought he said something wrong. "Uhh, sorry."

"No, It's okay. I agree with you. I didn't like the clan either. Actually, I'm kind of happy they are dead." seeing Naruto's surprised look, he elaborated as he stood up "Now I'm finally free. I can do what I want. And I don't have to be afraid anymore. You know... My brother was the one who killed the entire clan. He did that to make me free; Itachi did it for me. He said almost the same words which you said to me. But that wasn't enough for me. Thanks, Naruto. Hearing about your past, made me realize Itachi said the truth. That's why I will try to be more friendly."

Naruto was quite surprised that Uchiha's prodigy would do something like that (he heard about Itachi), but seeing how he did it for his little brother, he sadly smiled, knowing that no one would do something like that for him.

Naruto then saw Sasuke stretched out his hand. "Hey, dobe. What do you say about us being friends? I figured we could be friends, because you're the one I've talked the most. Umm... I hope that's a good reason." Sasuke said, worried a bit. He hoped he made a good reason. Also, he has seen how people shake hands when meet.

Naruto looked at Sasuke with deadpan expression, but he still took Sasuke's hand and shook it. He said "Sasuke, of course I'll be your friend. But you don't don't need any reasons to be a friend with someone. You just need to be friendly, talk with people and they will eventually be you friends. You won't even notice it. Well, I'm not a professional but I learned that much with my time with Shikamaru and Chouji."

Sasuke blushed a bit. He couldn't believe he did something like that. At least it wasn't in public and Naruto wasn't laughing about Sasuke's inexperience with interacting with people his age.

"Anyway, what were you up to? When I came here I heard you panting." Naruto asked as he let go of Sasuke's hand. He was happy that he made yet another friend.

Sasuke couldn't decide whether tell him or not. He decided to tell him, because he heard how friendship relied on trust to each other. Also, he had heard in classroom how other talked about small things like this - 'what did you do yesterday', 'what are your plans for tomorrow', etc.

"Well, I was practicing my new jutsu here. Usually Uchiha practice fire jutsu here." Sasuke answered.

"Wow. You too train outside of the academy. Oh, I guess everyone from the clan does so. Can you show it to me, please?" Naruto pleaded.

Sasuke thought about it a little - he felt a bit exhausted, but he regained some chakra while talking to Naruto. Well, he could try the last time for today.

"Sure."

Sasuke turned his back to Naruto, facing the lake. He did some handseals, stopping on tiger seal. He inhaled a large amount of air and exhaled while shouting **"Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu"**. A medium sized ball of fire shot out from Sasuke's mouth and flew forward. After half a mile, the fireball dispersed. Sasuke was holding his knees, bent forward and panting heavily. It was the last chakra he could use for today without fainting from chakra exhaustion. After the entire day he couldn't improve, every time one and the same result. And there was no one who could tell what his problem was.

"Not bad, Sasuke." Naruto said. Sasuke turned around. He wanted to ask Naruto to elaborate what did he meant by 'not bad'. Surely, Naruto couldn't do better. But what he saw, made his jaw drop.

"N-Naruto... y-your eyes." Sasuke muttered between the panting. Sasuke was staring into Naruto's rinnegan.

"Huh? Oh. You remember when I told you about the power I awakened on the trip?" After receiving short nod from Sasuke, he continued "Well, I awakened the Rinnegan."

"R-Rinnegan? But it's just a myth."

"Well it was. I won't bother to tell you everything about it now, maybe later. Anyway, I activated my dojutsu to see how much chakra you use for your jutsu. You use enough chakra to make the fireball that big, but you use too small amount of chakra to keep it burning. That's why the fireball disappears so quickly."

Sasuke, now regained his breath, stood up and said "Hn. If you could do better."

Naruto just smirked. "Well, Sasuke, I surely can."

"Then show me. There's no one better in karon jutsus than Uchiha."

"And here come the Uchiha arrogance..." he muttered as he switched his places with Sasuke. He did the same handseals, stopped on tiger, inhaled and exhaled as he shouted **"Katon: Ao no Gōkakyū no Jutsu" **_(Blue Grand Fireball technique)_. A large _blue _fireball shot from his mouth. It flew forwards until it reached the opposite wall and exploded in blue and red flames.

Sasuke was staring at Naruto wide eyes. Not only he made a perfect Grand Fireball Jutsu, he also made it quite powerful. Also, he was shocked - Naruto, the _dead last_ of the class, performed an actual _katon jutsu_, as well as the flame was _blue_.

"H-How?" Was the only thing Sasuke could ask.

Naruto just turned around and tilted his head in confusion. "What 'how'?"

Regaining from his shock, Sasuke continued "How the dead last made so big, perfect and powerful fireball jutsu? And why it was blue?"

Naruto grinned. "Heh, Sasuke, that's the result of hard work. And I'm dead last only in the academy. Remember, deception is ninja's greatest tool. As to why it is blue, it's because of my chakra. My chakra is much more potent and dense than others have, and it also is in different color. You see, everyone has blue chakra, while mine is silver with blue tint. Basically, it's a simple Gōkakyū, but because mine is blue I renamed it to the blue Gōkakyū."

It kind of made sense. "But why is your chakra different?"

"Long story short - my dojutsu and some other... conditions. And that's one of the few jutsu I've mastered." Naruto said, without revealing too much. "Anyway, if you want I can help you with your jutsu."

Sasuke didn't want to accept his help because his pride didn't allow him to, he was an Uchiha. But then he remembered how some people in academy helped each other out. Was it what friends did - help each other out? Besides he really needed help.

He didn't want to say it, but he eventually did "I... I guess I would need some help from a person who has mastered the jutsu."

Naruto grinned. "That's great. Hey Sasuke, maybe we should train together?"

"What do you mean?" he asked curiously.

"Well, I don't have anything to do after the academy, so I just train for the rest of the day. I've been doing this for a year now. I think now you will have more time as well. Maybe we could train together. I mean, we could spar or teach each other something. And we could help each other with our dojutsu. It will also be more fun to train together than with clones." Naruto said.

Sasuke thought about it. He had to admit it was a nice idea. First of all he could become stronger, secondly he could see how strong Naruto truly is, thirdly he could train his dojutsu and lastly, he could learn something on how to interact with other kids his age. He really lacked that knowledge. He wasn't shy, it's just that he didn't know how to properly do things.

"I guess we could. Lets come to my training grounds tomorrow. No one could see us training and I like the idea of that 'deception' thing, I will have to remember that." Sasuke said.

"Okay then. See ya tomorrow, emo. Oh and bay the way. Continue to act as you did, just don't be so cold to everyone." Naruto said.

And with that he left. Sasuke wondered where this friendship will lead him, but he had a feeling he chose a right thing to do. After some time he went home as well.

* * *

Some weeks have passed since Naruto and Sasuke became friends. In a brief amount of time they quickly became best friends. In the class they would still act as before, though Sasuke wasn't so cold anymore. He talked more. Other kids noticed that as well. Especially fan-girls who started to worship him again and ask for dates. Well, it was their fault they got kicked out of the academy.

Then there was a day when Naruto managed to convince Sasuke to go out with him, Shikamaru and Choji. At the beginning Shikamaru didn't want Sasuke to come, because he thought he will ruin the day with his attitude, but when Naruto explained Sasuke's situation, he agreed. Sasuke felt somehow uneasy with others around. In academy it was one thing, where everyone spent their time learning new things. But going out with friends in free time was completely new experience to him. He did things he would never do alone, like playing some games and enjoying their time in the park. That was the first time in his life when he felt just like an ordinary 9-year-old kid. Shikamaru and Choji didn't mind his company seeing how Sasuke tried to make friends.

Also, Sasuke was quiet shocked to see Naruto's way of training. When Naruto explained him the Kage Bunshin training he wondered if he could do the same training, but Naruto said he couldn't. Naruto explained about why it was a kinjutsu and that only he could do this training. When Sasuke asked why only he could, Naruto explained about his massive reserves of chakra and enhanced healing. He didn't tell about Kyuubi though. Yet. That was the day when Sasuke swore he would train hard to become as strong as his brother and his new best friend, Naruto. That was the day when Naruto was not only his best friend, but his rival as well. And somehow Sasuke just forgot where he learned Kage Bunshin in the first place.

Naruto also found out one of his left eye's ability. He discovered it in the library, when he was reading a scroll on some Doton technique. His clone accidentally (Naruto still didn't know how this 'accident' happened) activated the Rinnegan. The clone then subconsciously started to focus on the written text and images and noticed that he now read faster and the text seemed more clearer and understandable. Then the other clone who nearby saw his left eye's slits slowly spinning. The next day, when Naruto wanted to go through everything the clone read, he was surprised because he remembered everything. Every single word and every single image, even every single detail on the image. After a day or two Kyuubi explained him this new ability.

Basically Naruto now could copy and understand texts. Naruto thought it was stupid, but Kyuubi elaborated - Naruto now didn't have to send 20 clones to ninjutsu section, one clone was enough. That clone would activate his Rinnegan and scan the needed scrolls which would forever be copied to his memory. Then, he could use that memory to train in his ninjutsu. Long story short - he now needed much less clones and time to read new scrolls. The only downside was that only one clone at a time could activate the Rinnegan and this ability. Also, there was a limit on how much he could copy in one day. That was also the day when Kyuubi added Fuuinjutsu training to the schedule, explaining that this ability and fuuinjutsu are just great together.

Anyway, today was a Saturday afternoon and you could find Naruto and Sasuke sitting in Ichiraku's and eating a ramen. Well, Sasuke just finished his bowl and Naruto was already eating his 4th.

"Dobe, where is all that food going? It's like you've got black hole instead of stomach or something." Sasuke said. He still was calling him 'dobe'. It was the way Sasuke showed him respect - because being dead last and stronger than Sasuke was not a small feat (well, you can argue about that being a respect). Also it a was a way to annoy Naruto. And to annoy Sasuke, Naruto continued to call him 'emo' although he didn't act like one anymore.

"Emo, this is the food from Kami herself. I just can't eat less." Naruto answered.

Sasuke just sighed. Ramen was okay although he wasn't fan of it.

"So, why did you called me today here? I was hoping to stay in and read some scrolls or just relax." Sasuke said.

Naruto finished his bowl, said thanks and paid to the old man. He turned to Sasuke with serious expression and said "You know Sasuke, we've been friends and trained together for some weeks. We even worked on one collaboration technique and our teamwork is nice. We haven't worked on that, but it's nice." Naruto then paused.

Sasuke still couldn't understand where Naruto is going with it. He knew Naruto long enough to know that he had some crazy ideas sometimes.

Naruto continued "Well, do you want to be one one team when we become a genin?"

Well, it wasn't as crazy as Sasuke was expecting. And it was a nice idea too. They were both strongest in their class and they worked well together. He had an addition to this idea "It's a nice idea, but I've got better."

Well that made Naruto interested. "Oh yeah? And what that would be?"

"How about we find one more person, he trains with us and then we three become a team once we made genin?" Sasuke suggested. "Just imagine - our team would be the strongest among the genins. Everyone would think we're some kind of fresh rookies, when actually we would kick some serious ass."

That was one of the aspect of Sasuke's personality. He really liked to 'kick some ass' and show how strong he was. But still, it was a great plan.

"That's great Sasuke. But there's a problem."

"Hn? What is it?" Sasuke asked.

"The 3rd member of the team has to be a girl." Naruto said. He knew Sasuke hated fan girls, and all girls in the class liked Sasuke (except for one shy girl).

"Oh great... Although Kurenai-sensei did great job to make the girls take the right path, still all of them are worshiping me. I like my plan anyway so I will need to deal with it. Maybe after some time with us the girl will take being a kunoichi seriously. Are you sure about a girl being the third member?" Sasuke said a bit sad. He really didn't want to deal with a fan-girl, but if it meant to kick some ass, he would cope with that.

"Yes. I've read that they put the kid with best overall score with the dead last, and because there are three ninja on a squad, they add in the best Academic on the team." Naruto answered.

Sasuke sighed. "I see. Do you have any suggestions?"

"Well, yeah. There are three girls which I could suggest to our team. Hinata, Ino and Sakura." answering the unspoken question, Naruto explained "All three of them comes from ninja family, where Ino and Hinata are from clans. We can cross out Hinata, because: firstly, she is too shy and unsure of herself, she almost don't have any self confidence. Secondly, she is a Hyuuga, meaning that her parents won't allow her to be with Uchiha." he finished as he took some moments to regain his breath.

Sasuke just nodded, agreeing to an explanation. "What about others two?"

"Ino, she comes from good clan and she is average at all subjects. She also has a nice clan jutsus which I'm sure you know. But I don't think she will be good for our team because of her personality. Though I wouldn't mind her, it's most likely she will be with Shikamaru and Choji, just like their parents were. So I guess we can cross her out as well." he sighed. He somehow liked Ino, but she already had a crush on Sasuke. Naruto then continued "Then there comes Sakura. She is not very good at all subjects, but she has good book smarts. I mean, she is the smartest girl of the class. Sakura has a bit less than average grades on physical subjects. She is decent with bunshin, kawarimi and good at detecting and dispelling genjutsu. She has low chakra reserves but very good chakra control. That's everything I could find out about them from observing in class. She doesn't come from any clan, but her father was a ninja and her mother is a civilian." Naruto finished.

Sasuke was quite surprised about Naruto's information gathering just from observing. He didn't know though that it was one of the requests from Kyuubi to see how Naruto would succeed.

"So basically our chances with Sakura is better than with Ino?" Sasuke said. You could barely notice as smile on his lips, but of course it didn't go unnoticed by Naruto.

"Yeah and I think it's our best option. She is not as loud and bossing as Ino is. Also, I can feel she has some kind of hidden power." Naruto said. And of course he didn't mention that it was Kyuubi who sensed some kind of hidden power in the girl, but Sasuke didn't need to know it for now.

"Hn? Hidden power? What do you mean?" Sasuke asked.

"Well I'm not sure, but you better believe me. I think she has some kind of hidden bloodline or something like that. I think Sakura would be interesting addition to our team. And I'm sure you would like it." Naruto said with a smirk.

"What do you mean?"

"Oh don't give me that crap. I've seen how you look at her in class sometimes. So you like one of your fangirls after all, emo?" Naruto said in teasing voice.

Sasuke barely blushed as he shouted "Shut up, dobe, it's not true. I just like pink hair, because it's unusual for a kunoichi. She is weak and I only like strong and determined girls."

"Yeah, right. Isn't she enough determined to be your girlfriend? I think that's enough for determination." Naruto countered. He enjoyed the small twitch in Sasuke's eyebrow.

"And what about you? I've seen how you look at Ino sometimes. What about her? Don't you want her on team?" Sasuke asked. He thought it was a good counter for Naruto, but that wasn't the case.

Naruto shrugged "Well, at least I'm not shy to admit I somehow like her. And yes I would like her on our team, but it won't work. Firstly because she is a way too bossy and her fangirlism will be harder to 'cure'."

Sasuke sighed. Naruto was almost always calm and it was hard to get under his skin, almost just like Itachi. But he had a point about Ino. Sakura was their only choice. Plus he was intrigued by this 'hidden power' Naruto spoke of. Although he didn't like fangirls, he would give Sakura a chance. And that's only because she had a pink hair... "Fine then. Shall we approach her on Monday?"

"Yes. The sooner the better." Naruto said.

"Okay then, see you on Monday, dobe."

"See ya, emo."

And with that they left to their separate homes.

* * *

**-Monday-**

It was another boring day in school. Shikamaru sleeping, Choji eating, Ino and Sakura arguing, Naruto daydreaming, Sasuke brooding and Iruka randomly switching between calmly telling the lecture and shouting so everyone would wake up.

After lessons have ended, Naruto decided to start their plan. He nodded to Sasuke as they both waited when Sakura will be alone. They pretended like they had some unfinished work to do in their books. They were lucky that Sakura stayed behind as well to ask something to Iruka.

When Sakura finished talking to Iruka she picked up her things and went home. It looked like she didn't notice someone else had stayed behind.

Seeing that she is going away, both boys collected their bags, bid farewell to Iruka and approached Sakura, just outside of the academy.

"Hey, Sakura-chan." Naruto shouted as he usually do in class.

Already knowing who it is, Sakura shouted back not turning around "Go away, Naruto-baka. I will not go on any date with you."

Sasuke already knew that Naruto's 'crush' on Sakura was just part of his acting. Knowing that Sakura would rather listen to him than Naruto, he said "We're not here to call you to any dates."

Sakura froze. She knew who that voice belonged to. She couldn't believe he approached her outside of the school and that she mistook him for that Naruto. She quickly turned around and once again was surprised. By Sasukes side there stood Naruto. But it was still nice that Sasuke had talked to her.

"Sasuke-kun? Did you wanted something? And why Naruto-baka is here?" She asked as she scowled in Naruto's direction. At the beginning she thought Naruto was okay. But that was until he became that loudmouth idiot who would always call her for dates.

"Maybe it wasn't a great idea after all? I don't like her attitude." Sasuke said to Naruto.

"Relax, Sasuke. She knows me how I am in academy, so I don't blame her. Give her time to know me better and she will change her opinion. Greatly." Naruto said seeming to be fully calm.

Originally Sakura was very confused by their talk. Did Sasuke just asked a question to _Naruto_? Did Naruto just sounded calm and not shouting? Wait. What did he mean by 'she knows me how I am in academy'? But before she could ask any of this, Naruto spoke.

"Listen, Sakura." Naruto started off. For Sakura it was very weird to hear Naruto this serious. The missing -chan suffix made it more weirder.

"You can relax. My crush on you, being loudmouth and stupid was nothing but acting so others would underestimate me. 'Deception is ninja's greatest tool'," oh, how he loved that line, "You see, I'm stronger than any academy student. I'm even stronger than Sasuke. I've been training hard for a year now, and started to train with Sasuke some weeks ago. Do you follow this far?"

It was first time when Sasuke heard or seen Naruto so serious. He was impressed, but he didn't show it. On the other hand Sakura was quite shocked. Not only Naruto in front of her seemed absolutely different than in class and spoke intelligently, he also states he is stronger than Sasuke. Sasuke was an Uchiha. No one in class is better than him.

Seeing Sakura's doubt, Sasuke interrupted "Believe me, when Naruto gets this serious he doesn't lie or joke. And he really is stronger than me."

Sakura just dumbfounded nodded.

Naruto continued "You see, we had this great idea to be on one team with Sasuke. We're working on our collaboration jutsu and our teamwork is good enough to pass. It still needs to improve though. A team consists of 3 genins - two boys and one girl - and one jounin sensei. The thing is, we didn't want random weak girl who would slow us down. So we're asking you - would you like to be on our team."

It wasn't how Naruto had imagined it, but what's done that's done.

Sakura was speechless. She couldn't believe someone would offer her that kind of chance. If what Sasuke said was true, then Naruto was indeed strong. And she would be with Sasuke with one team. But then Sakura realized something. Both boys are strong, much stronger than her. She would just slow them down.

"You know, no one ever had offered me something like this. I would really like to accept, but I think I'll slow you down. I'm weaker than you. Only thing I'm good at is book smarts." she sadly said. Before Kurenai came, she would jump at any chance like this, but now she thought about it a little. Would it be good to slow down Sasuke? Would it be good if they would always need to protect her?

Naruto smiled. It was a smile which could brighten up the mood, even of the likes like Orochimaru. And somehow, Sakura felt better. Like a warm and calm aura came past her.

_**"Naruto! Remember I told you about that hidden power?"**_ Kyuubi suddenly asked. Naruto was quite surprised to hear the fox. After receiving a mental nod (Naruto learned how to send mental images to Kyuubi) he continued_** "I can sense it chaotically rising and dropping. Her chakra is doing the same. Now I'm sure it's a bloodline. And it is an old one. I'm not sure how old though, but now is the moment when either she will awaken it or the bloodline will be sealed for next generation to try again."**_

_"What do you suggest? I really want to help her even if she doesn't accept our offer." _Naruto mentally asked while at the same time speaking to Sakura "Listen, Sakura. There is still 4 years until we take exam for genin. We offer you to be on our team because we can see your potential." Sasuke was a bit surprised by that statement, because it wasn't true, but he didn't interfere. He wanted to see where Naruto is going with it. "If you accept our offer you will train with us. But remember, we train each day except for the weekends. We train hard. If you accept you will get strong. By the time we make genins, you will be stronger than average genin. Furthermore," he smirked "I've heard Sasuke likes pink hair, because he thinks it's unusual for a kunoichi. And I've also heard that he doesn't like weak girls, because they are disgrace to kunoichi."

Sakura blushed at that while Sasuke glared at Naruto. In their next spar, Naruto will pay...

_**"Kit, if you really want to help her acquiring the bloodline, ask her to bit her thumb and do the same. Then place your wound on hers. I will channel slightest amount of my chakra to increase her chance of getting the bloodline. Hurry, it is close to sealing off."**_ Kyuubi said.

Naruto quickly made up a plan on how to make her bit the thumb. Getting an idea, he said "Sakura, you don't have to answer now. We will give you the whole week to think things through. Do you promise not to tell anyone about what we said to you?" after receiving a slow nod from Sakura, he continued "Unfortunately, that's not enough. I will bit my thumb and you bit yours. We will seal a blood contract to really make sure no one finds out. Please, it is very important for both of us." Naruto said as he bit his thumb.

Sasuke really didn't know what the hell is happening, but he will ask later.

Sakura hesitated a bit. It was painful after all, but then she remembered what Kurenai taught them. How they will face great pain in their mission. A little wounded thumb is nothing. Without thinking about this strange 'blood contract', which clearly didn't exist, she bit her thumb and placed it on Naruto's. After some seconds everything was done. She didn't even feel how foreign drop of chakra entered her system.

"Thanks, Sasuke-kun, Naruto. I really appreciate your offer. I will think about it." Sakura said with a smile.

Deciding to play his trump card, which he learned from Naruto, Sasuke said "Sakura. We believe in you. I hope you will join our little team, so we could kick some serious ass."

"Thank you."

_**"So badass! SHANNARO! Don't hesitate and jump at this chance!"**_ Inner Sakura shouted, bumping her fists into the air.

With that Sakura left.

* * *

**-With Sasuke and Naruto-**

Naruto and Sasuke went to Uchiha training grounds to continue their training. But before they could start they usual routine, Sasuke called for Naruto.

"Dobe." Sasuke called.

"What is it, emo?"

"What was all that about? I mean all that blood contract thing." Sasuke asked.

Naruto thought a little. Should he tell him about the Kyuubi or not. They were good friends for some time and this would be a great opportunity to test their friendship.

"I guess I can't hide it from you now, when we will be a tam in the future." Naruto said as he let out a sigh.

"Hide what?"

"Do you know the truth about the night the Kyuubi attacked? Do you know what happened to it?" Naruto asked.

"Well I don't know the truth behind Kyuubi's attack, but I know it couldn't be killed. I also know it's been sealed inside you." Sasuke calmly stated.

"Eeh?" Naruto shouted and face faulted. Seriously? Sasuke knew? "How long?"

"For a week. I didn't have anything to do on Sunday last week, so I decided to find something interesting in library. There I found the book on bijuu and jinchuuriki. There were also stated some facts and traits of various jinchuuriki. For example, the jinchuuriki of Nibi would get cat-like eyes, senses, and agility. As I read about Kyuubi, I couldn't help but remember you. Those whisker marks do not look like birth marks, then there's your enhanced healing, abnormal chakra reserves and the hatred from villagers, which you told me about few weeks ago. I put two and two together. It wasn't that hard to figure it out." Sasuke explained.

Naruto didn't know what to think. Sasuke saved him trouble of telling him about the jinchuurikis and about telling that he (Naruto) was one of them. But at the same time he couldn't understand why he didn't tell him anything.

"Why didn't you tell me earlier?" Naruto asked.

"I didn't want to force this subject on you, seeing how Kyuubi is hated here. I just waited when you will ready to tell it to me myself." Sasuke explained.

"Are you not afraid of me? Are you not afraid the Kyuubi could get out, or that I'm Kyuubi's reincarnation as many people says."

"Don't be such a dobe, dobe. I truly trust Yondaime-sama's sealing abilities, and knowing you for some weeks, you can't possibly be that evil and malicious thing."

Naruto smiled. Sasuke accepted him, even knowing about the Kyuubi. He was a true friend indeed. But Sasuke didn't know the whole story.

"Sasuke, you don't know the whole story..."

And so Naruto spent the whole day retelling what Kyuubi had told him. He even told him about how he got the Rinnegan to do some kind of thing to this world. He also told him about who his sensei was, and who suggested this kind of training. He then also explained what he did to Sakura. The entire time Sasuke was listening very carefuly, sometimes asking a question or two if he didn't understand something. At the end of the story he was quite surprised with the burden that was palced on Naruto.

"You've got nice tasks ahead. I'll stick with you around. With you, I'm sure I'll get a chance to kick some ass and to prove I' strong." Sasue said at the end.

"Thanks, Sasuke." Naruto said as he smiled. He had really found first, true friend. Even if said friend still needed to learn some socialasing skills and even if he was a bit emo.

For the next two hours they did light physical training and a small sparring match, before they went home. For the entire time, Naruto had a huge smile on his face.

* * *

**-With Sakura-**

It was a deep night now and everyone in Haruno's household were sleeping. Well, Sakura's mother was sleeping, but Sakura herself couldn't fall asleep. It was for some hours like this. She thought she had a fever, but she didn't have any raised temperature, or coughing, or anything else what fever usually has. Maybe it was her periods? Nope. Too early for those. It felt like various energy spikes - in one moment she felt energized, ready to lift the mountains, and in another moment she felt weak and tired. And she didn't want to bother her mom about it. She had lessons tomorrow, and it was really frustrating that she couldn't fall asleep.

It continued for one more hour, when Sakura decided to go to bathroom. Maybe relaxing under the hot water will help her.

She undressed herself and entered the shower cabin in her bathroom. It was quite large with various switched which could change water flowing modes.

She turned on hot water and tried to relax. After some minutes the spikes didn't stop. This time it looked like her energy, her chakra, only grew.

"Damn... It still can't stop. What's wrong with me?"she muttered. "By the way, what should I do with Naruto's offer?"

**"It's so stupid question! Accept it! It is our chance to prove Sasuke-kun we're not weak! SHANNARO!"** Inner Sakura shouted and bumped her fists in the air. The inner Sakura was totally oblivious to what's happening with real Sakura.

"But I'll have to train hard. And each day... I will be so tired. And lets not talk about all the dirt I could get."

**"Idiot! You just sounded like pathetic fan-girl. It's no wonder Sasuke-kun never noticed you. You only care about your looks, although you started to put some effort in academy. Sitting on diets will only get you weaker. Your stamina and chakra is nonexistent! You should be happy that Sasuke-kun noticed you. He even told you that he believed in you! So stop whining and listen to me at least once. You can become stronger. Much stronger. Even stronger than Ino-pig. Your chances with Sasuke will be better. SHANNARO!"  
**

"Ehh, I guess you're right... I'll do it for Sasuke-kun. I will prove him I'm not weak and that I'm worthy at least some of his time." Sakura muttered.

With new resolution in heart, her condition stabilized. She immediately noticed how the power spikes stopped. She didn't feel too powerful or tired anymore. She felt like... normal. Like she usually would felt. Furthermore, she didn't know but her chakra reserves had increased. It was thrice more than before - she could now compare to average genin.

But that's not the the only thing she noticed. She felt how something salty was entering her mouth. She touched her mouth with her finger and saw a blood on it.

_"Why my nose is bleeding?"_

But then the most weirdest (in her opinion) thing happened. She was staring at her palm. Slowly but steady there was a deep cut forming across her palm. And it didn't hurt at all.

Then, blood from her nose, as well as from the cut on her palm, started to drip down. The drips never reached the cabin's floor, instead they were floating half way to the floor. After some more moments of dripping, the blood stopped to come from the cut. The countless drops of blood, which were floating, now were slowly moving and mixing together into one ball of blood. When the ball finally formed, it floated to Sakura's eye level. The girl froze there, staring at all the process speechless. She was so shocked that she could do nothing but stare; Never in her life has she seen or read about something like that.

The ball itself was a bit bigger than Sakura's fist. Some seconds passed, after which the bell deformed and fell with a loud 'splash', sending the blood all around the cabin. Sakura stood there for a minute and then looked at her palm which was surprisingly alright. No cuts, no scars. Nothing.

"What the hell..." she muttered as she regained her composure, cleaned the cabin, dried herself and left the cabin.

She went to her mother's room, because she wanted to tell what happened just now. Somehow Sakura knew her mother will have some kind of idea on what happened.

She finally reached the room and knocked, just to check if her mother was asleep. Receiving no answer she sighed and entered.

"Kaa-san..." Sakura said. Receiving no answer, she went closer and shook her mother and called out louder "Kaa-san!"

The woman barely opened her eyes and yawned. She turned around and looked into her daughter's eyes. Mebuki Haruno is not only a kind and caring woman, but she was also pretty for her age. Mebuki is a tall, fair skinned woman with shoulder-length, blond hair with a single bang which falls down into her face. She also has green eyes, just like Sakura.

Seeing Sakura's worried face, she sat up. "What is it Sakura? Why are you not sleeping yet?"

"Sorry, kaa-san, but weird thing happened to me just now." Sakura truthfully said. And that got Mebuki's interest. With that Sakura told her mother about her day, skipping all the story about Naruto and Sasuke. Then she told how she couldn't fall asleep and what happened while she was taking a shower.

After Sakura had finished, Mebuki was in deep thought.

_"Could it be that? Kizashi-kun had told me stories, but why would it reappear in Sakura?"_ she thought. _"There's only one way to find out if that's true."_

_"_Sakura, did you knew I took Haruno surname after I married your father?"

"Umm, no. So Haruno was not your original surname?" Sakura asked.

"No. Before we continue I want to check something. Wait a second here." Mebuki said. She stood up from the bed and went to her wardrobe. There, on the highest shelf, was a box with strange seal instead of keyhole. The box was big enough to store two or three scrolls. Mebuki got the box and went back to Sakura. She gave her the box and said, "Please bit one of your fingers and smear the blood along the seal."

Sakura sighed, she will need to bit her thumb. Again. Although she was quite curious on what could be inside. She did what she was asked to do and smeared the blood on the seal. For some moments nothing happened, when suddenly the seal glowed bright red and some drop of blood floated into the air before the they evaporated and a 'click' sound was heard.

"Sakura, before you open... Do you know who was your grandfather?" Mebuki asked.

"No. I barely know my dad. How is he related to this?"

"I don't know much about him either, but I know the stories your father told me. Your grandfather's name was Kazuke Haruno. Just like Shodaime hokage, he had a special ability." Mebuki said.

"If my memory serves me well Shodaime-sama had a Mokuton, which is very strong bloodline, right? Did Kazuke, my grandfather, had something that powerful? And does that mean we're are part of the bloodline clan?" Sakura curiously asked. She was quite surprised that Haruno was an actual clan with a bloodline.

"No, Sakura. Mokuton has never been a bloodline. And we're not a bloodline clan." Mebuki answered her daughter.

"If it wasn't a bloodline, then why only Shodaime-sama could do it?" Sakura continued her 'interrogation'.

"It was some kind of chakra mutation or something, which allowed the user to combine suiton and doton chakra to create mokuton. Everyone thought it was a bloodline, but seeing Nidaime-sama and Tsunade-sama, people changed their views. If it would be an actual bloodline, then Nidaime-sama would had had the same ability right? But instead Nidaime-sama had unreal high suiton affinity. Both Shodaime and Nidaime were brothers, both from Senju clan. And then there's Tsunade-sama, one of the legendary Sannin, who is also from Senju. But she doesn't have Mokuton nor high suiton affinity. What I mean is - while Mokuton was strong ability, it was just a mutation and didn't pass on as a bloodline. Well, I'm not a shinobi so I don't know very much about all those ninja thingies, I know that much from reading and listening to your father's stories." Mebuki finished explaining the Mokuton and let out a sight.

"I see. That explains why we don't have any mokuton users. So basically Kazuke had some powerful chakra mutation which allowed him to use something powerful like mokuton?" Sakura asked hopefully. She couldn't believe that her ancestor had some kind of super-unbelievably-strong ability. Oh man, how she would brag about it to Ino-pig.

Seeing Sakura's face, Mebuki said "I don't want to disappoint you, Sakura, but no. Kazuke didn't have anything strong like mokuton. It didn't even stand close to mokuton seeing how it was a mutation." Sakura just sighed. Great, everything started with mokuton and now her mother says ancestor's ability wasn't that strong. Mebuki continued, "Kazuke Haruno had an... interesting, for the lack of better term, ability. It allowed him to mix his chakra with his blood to control it. He could make spears, daggers and other kind of techniques from his blood to use in combat. He could also use his chakra to reinforce the blood he used for techniques, changing it from hard as steel to watery-like where he could bend blood to his will. Nor your grandfather or father had this ability, that's why we thought it was just like Shodaime's mokuton. I still don't know how he used those techniques in combat... I mean, he would have to injure himself in order to do so. Anyway, I still don't know why YOU have this ability, but I hope what's inside the box will explain it."

"But that's gross. To use blood in combat..." Sakura said as she scowled. The idea of using blood for combat was not appealing to her.

"I agree with you, daughter. But at the same time it has some kind of advantage in combat."

"What do you mean?"

"I think it would be a good distraction. Imagine, you're fighting an opponent which easily matches you, when suddenly you take a weapon and stab yourself in the palm or gut letting some blood to spill. Opponent would be shocked at such action which would give you a good opening to strike or use these blood techniques. I'm sure there would be other advantages, but I'm too tired to think about it now. Also, I'm not a ninja so maybe I might be wrong. Anyway, lets see what's in the box."

Sakura nodded and opened the box. There were two scrolls and a convert atop of them. She took the convert and read it.

_"To anyone who got the same ability as me. I write this message to the Haruno who awakened the Blood Release. _

_I thought it is just a mutation, just like Hashirama Senju has with his mokuton, but I had hope it is not. The Blood Style I use has more disadvantages than advantages, but it allowed to perform some nice jutsus and it also a nice distraction in combat. But I believed my Blood Style wasn't complete and just developing. It means that it would develop through the generations until it awakens as a bloodline. I still don't know what has to happen, but the time will tell. Haruno is not a clan, it's just family name, but my dream is to Haruno become a bloodline clan and to prosper. That's why I believe someday, Blood Style will appear again in my ascendant. _

_Here, in this box, I've placed two scrolls on few Blood Style jutsus I've created. I hope they would be of some use to you to get a basic idea how this style works. Also, there's a special dirk knife inside which I used to get blood from my palm. You have to get some blood to use it after all, right? The blade of the dirk is made from a rare metal which allows you channel chakra in it, but it's not suitable for combat like kunai. While I couldn't use my chakra to safely draw my blood, I hope the bloodline will develop enough to allow you to get the blood safely, without pain or anything, using your chakra._

_I will pass this box to my son, Kizashi Haruno. If he will not get the bloodline, he will pass the box to his predecessor. To make sure that only people wielding my ability could open the box, I asked my friend, who is quite good at sealing, to create a seal from my chakra infused blood which could only open with the same chakra infused blood. The dirk too has similar seal. If you opened the box then congratulations. You're ascendant of my Blood Release.  
_

_Take care and make me proud. Make Haruno proud and well known._

_-Kazuke Haruno"_

Sakura was speechless, just like her mother. The man somehow knew about Blood Style being undeveloped. But that wasn't the thing what left them speechless. Sakura now had a bloodline. While not powerful like sharingan or byakugan, still a bloodline. Haruno will be an official bloodline clan once Sakura will reveal it. It was really something.

Sakura regained her composure and opened the scrolls. She didn't read them, just took a glance. They looked like technique scrolls, just like Kazuke said. Sakura decided to deal with them later. She then took the dirk and took a look at it.

Somehow the dirk felt good in her hands, like it belonged there... It had approximately 3 inch long, double edged, grey with black tint blade. There was some kind of white seal pattern on the blade. It didn't have a guard and the handle was made from what seemed like wood. Sakura didn't know it, but the wood was reinforced meaning it was almost as strong as steel. The handle was wrapped in leather straps. The blade looked beatiful and rather simple at the same time.

"Wow... that's a lot to take in..." Sakura finally said.

"I agree. I still can't believe my little Sakura-chan has a bloodline. Although a weird one, I'm still proud of you."

"Kaa-san! I'm not little anymore. And thanks."

"You're welcome." Mebuki said and smiled. "Lets go to sleep now, you have academy tomorrow and I have a job. We will discuss it later."

"Sure. Goodnight, kaa-san."

"Goodnight, Sakura."

Sakura placed the scrolls and dirk back into the box, stood up and went back to her room with her box. Before she left Mebuki's room she remembered something. "Bu the way, Kaa-san. From this day I will be coming later at home so don't wait me for lunchtime."

"Huh? Why?" Mebuki said quite confused on why her daughter would come home later.

"I will have an extra training after academy. I really lack some physical training and I'm only good at book smarts. Also I need to practice this new thingie after all, right?" she explained, although she had a scowl when she referred to bloodline. She just can't imagine stabbing her palm each day just to train the Blood release. She will have to find a way around the stabbing.

"I'm happy that take being kunoichi seriously. I don't mind you training after academy, but not on your new bloodline. I don't want you to stab you palm each day." Mebuki seriously said.

Sakura just knew this was coming "Don't worry, kaa-san. I wont stab myself right away. I will start with small cuts from a needle to get a feel of it."

Mebuki thought about it and finally agreed "Fine. But every time you will train on your bloodline you will tell me what you did, okay? I would like to know how badly you injure yourelf just to train. If it will come too far I will forbid you from using the blood style. Is that clear?"

"Yes, kaa-san. Goodnight." Sakura said as she yawned and finally went back to her room.

Tomorrow was a long day.

* * *

**-Next day-**

It was a usual ninja academy day. Naruto was being an idiot, Sasuke brooding, Shikamaru sleeping, Choji eating, Kiba playing with his new puppy Akamaru, Ino bossing around and Shino doing Kami know what. During the lecture time, Sakura for first time in her life didn't listen to Iruka. She was thinking about what she discovered last night and about the training she will get.

Soon the bell rang indicating that lunch time has come. Over some weeks Sakura had noticed how Naruto and Sasuke would leave the classroom last. She thought it to an accident, but remembering yesterday it had proven wrong. That's why she decided to wait until everyone leaves and approach the boys to tell about her decision.

As everyone was going out of the class, Ino approached Sakura. "Hey, forehead girl. You coming?" Despite their small rivalry over Sasuke, they still were good friends.

Sakura eye twitched, "No, Ino-pig. I have to finish reading the last paragraphs and then I'll come."

"But you can read while you eat." Ino answered.

Quickly coming up with another excuse, Sakura answered "Basically yes, but I also wanted to ask Iruka-sensei about today's lecture."

Ino sighed. Sometimes she thought Sakura was obsessed with reading and learning. "Okay, bookworm. But if you won't come after 5 minutes, I will come back and drag you with me. See you later." And with that she left.

Sakura sighed in relief and looked around, checking if there's someone else in the room. Apart from Iruka, Kurenai, Naruto and Sasuke, no one was there anymore. Sakura stood up and approached the boys, while Iruka and Kurenai gave her a curious look.

_"If I will hear something about 'Sasuke-kun' she can forget about coming back."_ Kurenai thought as she narrowed her eyes.

At the same time Iruka thought _"Hmm... I wonder what they're up to."_

Both teachers returned to their work: sorting out some papers and coming up with future lectures, while keeping an eye on three students.

Both Naruto and Sasuke would've left the class sooner, but they noticed how Sakura wanted to stay in longer. Usually she would run with Ino. That made both boys curious and they decided to stay a little bit longer. And true to their suspicion, Sakura was approaching them.

"Hey, Naruto, Sasuke." She decided to skip the -kun suffix in Sasuke's name, seeing how Kurenai was still in the room.

"Keep it down, Sakura." Naruto whispered as quiet as possible and glanced towards the teachers. He then took out a piece of paper from his notepad and started writing on it. When he finished writing, he gave the piece of paper to Sakura.

_"This way will be safer. Usually chuunin and jounin can enchance the range from which they can hear things, so this will be safer. Have you already decided on our offer? I thought you will use the time we gave you."_ She read.

Understanding the reasons of writing instead of talking, she took her own pen and started to write an answer. When finished, she gave the piece of paper back to Naruto which he and Sasuke read.

_"Yes. I've been thinking a lot yesterday and I decided to accept your offer. Also, I can still remember Kurenai-sensei's speech what she gave to girls and I don't want to be a nuisance to my future teammates and I want to get strong. I also want to prove that I'm worthy of Sasuke-kun's time."_ at this point Sasuke rolled his eyes and continued to read. _"And something... interesting happened yesterday. But I will tell you about it later, when we will have our first training day together. We can start today. I can give you a hint though. I'm now like Hinata or Sasuke. I think that hint was quite obvious, huh?"_

At this point both boys curiously looked at Sakura.

_"She has a bloodline?"_ both of them thought.

Sasuke then took the paper from Naruto's hands and started to write on it and gave it to Sakura.

_"Good. After the last lesson leave as usually. Immediately go to the Uchiha district main gate. I'm sure you know where it is. Make sure you don't look suspicious or anything. We will meet you there 5 minutes later after you arrive, because we leave the academy last. And Sakura. Find another reason to become strong, instead of just proving me something. Look how many girls wants to 'prove' something and they all are pathetic. Well, it's too soon to judge, but the way they act it's not far from truth."_

Sakura was a bit taken back by what Sasuke had said. She will need to find another reason? Before she could think more on it or answer, Ino barged in.

"Billboard brow! 5 minutes has passed and you're still here." When she saw WHERE Sakura was standing, she became angry. "YOU! You wanted to stay behind just to get more time with Sasuke-k..." she stopped when she saw Kurenai's look. "I mean, why would you stay behind just to talk with Sasuke?" she angrily asked.

"So, Sakura-chan! You didn't answer me. Wanna go on a date with me?" Naruto shouted, as he would usually do. Seeing the confused look on Sakura's face he whispered "Do what you usually would do in this situation!" Sakura was standing in front of Naruto so Ino didn't notice the whispering.

Catching Naruto's game, Sasuke said "Hmph. Answer dobe's question faster. I want to get some fresh air."

Still confused about what happened, Naruto's voice ringed in her head _"Deception is ninja's greatest tool"_. Finally understanding what was going on, she hit Naruto and shouted "Shut up Naruto-baka! I was asking Sasuke how to properly throw shuriken! Lets go Ino-pig. I have nothing to do here anymore." With that she approached Ino, took her hand and left.

"That was close one..." Sasuke muttered.

Naruto just nodded and they both left to have their lunch. Sasuke was still sitting alone and Naruto was hanging around with Shikamaru, Choji and newest addition - Shino. Shino would sometimes join them for interesting conversations. Well, if one sentence once in 2 minutes was a conversation...

Both teacher and his assistant remained silent for an entire time. When everyone left, they blinked few times, confused.

"What the hell just happened?" Iruka asked.

"I don't know. At the begging Sakura approached Naruto and Sasuke. Then, they acted like bets friends and talked via writing on a piece of paper so we couldn't overhear them. Then Ino came and everything returned to normal... I think something's going on." Kurenai answered. In her opinion it was rather interesting and somewhat amusing.

"I agree. But Sakura seemed a confused when Naruto asked her out on a date." Iruka said.

"Maybe she's new in their group?" Kurenai suggested.

"Maybe... we can't be sure if this 'group' even exists. We will have to keep an eye on them. Just in case."

With that, both of them returned to their work.

* * *

**-Later that day, Uchiha district-**

As usually, Naruto and Sasuke would part ways at the academy and later meet up at the Uchiha district. As Naruto came closer, he saw Sasuke and Sakura already waiting for him.

"Naruto, what took you so long? Usually you're first here." Sasuke asked when he saw the blonde.

"I wanted to give you some private time with Sakura." Naruto even winked when he said that. Seeing Sakura's reddening face and Sasuke's angry reaction, he smirked. "Relax, I'm joking. Emo usually are alone, right?"

"Naruto..." Sasuke said, glaring daggers at Naruto.

"Geez, Sasuke. You're taking everything too serious. I was on my way when I saw a black cat crossing the street. I had to take another route which was around the village." Naruto calmly said, remembering reports on the on of the jounin. Scouting foxes did their work and found out three or four facts about different jounins. Naruto asked if they could continue, which they gladly did. Also it was very strange for Sasuke to see Naruto talking to two yipping foxes...

His anger fading, Sasuke stated "Dobe, you still need to practice those excuses or show up much later. Think about it, if you would've taken a route around the village, you would be late for an hour not 2 minutes."

"Is it always like that with you two?" Sakura suddenly asked.

Remembering that they weren't alone, both of the simultaneously answered "Yes/Yeah."

"Lets start already." Sasuke said and lead the way to the training grounds.

When they finally arrived, Naruto spoke up "Alright, before we start tell us about what so 'interesting' happened yesterday." Sasuke nodded in agreement, he too wanted to know.

Sakura sighed as she prepared to tell what happened.

After 10 minutes of retelling everything, Naruto said "Awesome. It means we're team of bloodline. 'Bloodline trio'. Sounds cool, although your bloodline is weird indeed."

"Bloodline trio sounds rather plain and simple. Our team need some ass kicking name!" Sasuke stated.

"Wait. What do you mean 'trio'? You want to tell me Naruto has a bloodline?" Sakura asked, not believing her ears.

"Yes. And it might be even stronger than mine." Sasuke said.

Now Sakura's eyes widened. What can possibly be more powerful than sharingan? Seeing her look, Naruto closed his eyes.

"Rinnegan!" he said as he opened them, showing his dojutsu to Sakura.

Sakura stared at Rinnegan with awe. She had read about the legendary dojutsu, but to actually see it...

"H-How-" She stuttered.

"I'll tell you about it later. Did you took that box you told us about?" Naruto asked as he deactivated his Rinnegan.

"Y-yes." Sakura answered and regained from the shock. Wow. She couldn't believe it. She will train with two people who has one of the strongest dojutsu. "I took it in hope it would somehow help my training."

"I see. Can you give me the dagger and scrolls please? I want to examine them, maybe I will find out something interesting." Naruto said. Not knowing what he meant by 'interesting' Sakura reached her bag and took out a box. She opened it and gave Naruto what he asked.

While Naruto was examining the scrolls, Sasuke decided to enlighten Sakura on her training.

"Sakura." he started. When Sakura turned her face and faced Sasuke, he continued "For the first year you will be focusing on your physical training, chakra control and increasing chakra capacities. We discussed it with Naruto today in Iruka-sensei's lesson in case you would accept the offer. From what we have seen, your chakra control is good but your chakra reserves are very low. Now, when you told us about your bloodline, I think you should train a little bit in it. I mean finding a way to painlessly draw on your blood."

Sakura nodded, agreeing with Sasuke. But he wasn't finished.

"Also, Sakura. I want you to find a new reason for this training. A goal in your life. I already told you what will eventually happen to those who try to 'impress' me." without awaiting an answer he stood up and approached Naruto.

"Dobe. Are you gonna read that scroll all day long? You will miss your training."

"Huh? Oh, sorry." he said and shifted his attention to Sakura "By reading this scroll I made a conclusion. Blood release is an interesting bloodline with many possibilities, but it has a drawback of painful performing. Lucky for you I already have an idea which I will tell you when you will start training in it." he gave back the scrolls and stood up "Today you won't train, but you will observe the way we train. Tomorrow you will start train with us. And don't worry - your training won't be as intense as ours."

Sakura was a bit surprised by Naruto's commanding voice, but she let it go. She agreed to him and spent the rest of the day watching both boys train. Well, she watched Sasuke more than Naruto for obvious reasons.

Naruto would use his shadow clones to train while the real one did physical workout and trained in using his dojutsu - he would sometimes sit and stare at one object, it seemed like for eternity. Instead of asking why he stared at something, she asked why he used Kage Bunshin and why Sasuke didn't use it. Naruto explained the same what he had explained to Sasuke. Sakura nodded and continued to watch. It looked like Naruto worked hard and tried his best to master something.

On the other hand, Sasuke would change each half an hour between training in taijutsu, ninjutsu, weapons (shuriken and kunai) and chakra control. Although Sasuke worked as hard as Naruto, he was a genius and learned things faster.

Then for the last hour they sparred. First 20 minutes they spent on fist to fist combat, then 10 minutes using only their weapons, after that 10 minutes throwing learned ninjutsu at each other and the last 20 minutes were spent for all out combat where they used everything they knew.

Sakura was awed by the display of skills what both academy students had. She just couldn't believe an academy student could do something like that. In her very young mind, she couldn't wait to participate in these spars. At the end of the spar she was surprised that Naruto had won. And she was more surprised when she found it wasn't the first time when Naruto won.

"Next time I'll get you, dobe."

"Keep dreaming, Emo. Maybe the day my hair will be black. Besides, you said the same thing last time."

"I wasn't serious then." Sasuke shot back.

"Yeah, right. And now you are?" Naruto said as he let out a small laugh.

_"Boys..."_ Sakura sweatdropped.

"So Sakura. How have it been? I mean our training." Naruto asked as he approached Sakura, some sweat still on his face.

Sakura didn't know how to answer. "It was some intense training." She will change her mind when she'll meet two green spandex jumpsuit wearing ninjas calling themselves some kind of beasts. "It was really impressing. And you're not genin yet! I can't imagine how strong you'll be when we graduate. I'm not sure my place is here - I think I wouldn't be able to keep up."

Naruto smiled as he, once again, subconsciously radiated that calm, warm and reassuring aura. "No, Sakura-chan. You can't imagine how strong WE will be. You're part of the 'bloodline trio' now. Your training wont be that hard at the beginning though."

Somehow, Sakura believed his words. Somehow she knew he was right. She smiled back, ignoring random wild -chan suffix.

"Sakura." Sasuke drew the said girl's attention to him "Remember to act in academy as you would before we offered you anything."

"But why?"

"Simply." this time it was Naruto who answered "Deception is ninja's greatest tool. If everyone thinks I'm an idiot, Sasuke is an arrogant prick and your weak, no offense, then people will underestimate you. When we graduate all the ninjas in the village will think we're weak and imagine their surprise when we will be doing some B rank missions. Also it will help a lot in chuunin exams."

Fully understanding his reasons, she nodded. It was still weird to hear that kind of things from Naruto. They said goodbye to each other and left to their separate homes.

The next few years will be long.

* * *

**-Somewhere-**

It looked like some sort of a room which looked like a dark cave and it was lit with candles. The candles themselves didn't light the room. There was a big chair in the room which looked like a throne and a man on his one knee, bending in front of his master.

"You called me?" the man asked.

"Yes, Kabuto-kun. I have a infiltration and spying mission for you." someone said from the throne.

"What is it, Orochimaru-sama?" now revealed Kabuto asked.

"I've heard there was an Uchiha massacre in Konoha. I want you to infiltrate Konoha and get as much information as you can. Also, look for some Uchiha survivors who could easily betray the village." Orochimaru, one of the legendary three, the snake Sannin said.

"As you wish, Orochimaru-sama. I will take my leave." Kabuto said as he stood up and left the room.

"Ku ku ku ku... Soon I will have a Sharingan at my disposal. Ku ku, I need to wait just from some more years..." Orochimaru said to himself es he did the evil 'Ku-Ku' laugh.

* * *

**END!**

**I hope you like it and please review. What do you think about Sakura? I haven't read any fanfiction where Sakura would be stronger than she is in cannon at the beginning. **

**Next chapter will finally be when Naruto graduates. **

**As for jutsu names, I decided to mix both japanese and english ones. If I find a technique in Narutopedia, I will write it in japanese. If I can't find or if it's original jutsu, I'll write it in english.**

**IMPORTANT! I won't update this weekend nor the next week, because I've got exams.  
**


	4. Chapter 4: Beginning of real Life

******Ugh... Finally exam week is over and I'll start writing again. This chapter will be a little shorter than previous one, just to get used to writing again. **

**And to answer one reader, who didn't have any courage and remained anonymous, **

**wy: there are a lot more fictions which moves even more slower. Did you wanted the whole story to be like 'chapter 1: Naruto becomes hokage', 'chapter 2: end of story'? If you don't like it, don't read it. It's easy as that. Personally, I don't care about flames, but I suggest you to continue to write them because they increase my review count. Thanks. **

**Trekkie1104: I've never seen it. Be more specific please, like send me PM with YouTube link or something  
**

**stormwolf3710: while I agree that Itachi can't spy on akatsuki if he is not a member, he has more freedom this way. If some trouble happens he can always come back and help Konoha without blowing up his cover. Furthermore, he can send various reports which he gets from his journey around elemental nations (almost like Jiraya). I had my reasons why I did so. I'm not gonna reveal ALL the reasons, so you will have to read and find out ;)  
**

**!Unfortunately, something happened to my beta reader and I can't get my story beta'd, so I'm still searching for decent beta reader :/ Bare with my humble english this chapter and hopefully I will find a beta reader for my next chapters.  
**

**On with the story then.  
**

* * *

**CHAPTER 4**

**Beginning of real Life**

4 years have passed. Konoha, sunny as usually, still was in peace: no invasions, no wars, nothing. It was ordinary day for all the villagers, but for ninjas it was a special one because it was the day of ninja academy graduation. Academy students, who trained to become a ninja, will take their final test to prove they are worthy to become a genin. All soon-to-be genins were worried. Well, almost all. There were three students who looked absolutely confident.

One of them was Naruto Uzumaki. His appearance has changed over years. He now was an inch or two taller than Sasuke, his hair reached a bit past his shoulders and he also had long bangs which framed his face. Back of his hair was straight while front still remained spiky. He really looked like younger version of Yondaime, but his classmates seemed to be oblivious to it.

Acting quite out of character, by being quiet and collected, he thought about this test. Unfortunately it was a Bunshin test. Despite his good chakra control, he still couldn't make a normal bunshin because of his potent and powerful chakra. When he creates an ordinary clone, they stayed 'alive' for around 5 seconds after which they disappear. They also looked very sick. Naruto sighed, he will have to show his Kage Bunshin to Iruka-sensei. He really didn't want to show off until he is officially genin, but he had no other choice.

He already passed the written test, scoring exactly the amount of points needed for passing. Then there was physical test which he passed on average level. And now was ninjutsu test. To pass test you had to perform Kawarimi, Bunshin and Henge. He could do Kawarimi perfectly, because it only needed a short burst of chakra, instead of constant chakra sustaining like Bunshin or Henge needed. He could sustain henge for 1 minute if he concentrates really hard, but Bunshin still was his worst.

He stopped his trail of thoughts when Iruka called for him. "Naruto! You're next."

"Try not to fail, dobe!" Sasuke said as Naruto stood up from his place.

"Shut up, teme! I bet I can do better than you!" Naruto shot back, keeping up the act.

It was like that for whole year and everyone in class truly believes they hated each other. Except for Sakura, Shikamaru and Choji.

"Don't talk nonsense, baka. Sasuke is much better than you!" Ino shouted, defending her 'beloved Sasuke-kun'.

"Hmph, whatever." Naruto replied and went to the separate room where ninjutsu test will be held.

Iruka was already waiting for him. Alone.

Kurenai left academy when Naruto was 10 and became a jounin. He was happy about her, because Kurenai will finally take her own genin team. She once told the class it was her dream.

"Naruto, I really hope you won't fail this test. If you will fail, you will never be able to become a shinobi again. It's the third time you will try the graduation test on ninjutsu. Do your best." Iruka said. "Now perform Kawarimi, Bunshin and Henge."

"Thanks, Iruka-sensei. Here I go!" Naruto enthusiastically shouted and performed a perfect Kawarimi, where he switched with nearby chair.

"Excellent. For some reason Kawarimi is the best technique you can perform. Okay, Henge is next on the list."

Naruto merely nodded, did ram handseal and performed Henge, perfectly transforming into Iruka.

Iruka could see deep concentration on Naruto's face, but he was happy that he performed the jutsu and was closer becoming a genin.

"It looks like it takes a lot of concentration from you, but I'll pass seeing how hard you try and that you performed the jutsu. Now, please show me your Bunshin." Iruka said. He already knew it was Naruto's weakest jutsu, but academy standards are academy standards - no way around it.

_"Hey, Kyuubi-sensei."_ Naruto said within his mind, calling for fox. The mental link between them was usually closed until someone had anything to say.

As if Kyuubi just woke up, he yawned and asked _**"What is it, kit? You wouldn't bother me with something what does not require my attention, would you? Maybe you finally decided to destroy something?"**_

_Naruto sweatdropped. It was one trait of Kyuubi's personality which he discovered. Even though Kyuubi now is intelligent and calm, he still liked destruction. Once Naruto performed a high ranked Doton jutsu and almost destroyed Uchiha training ground. Kyuubi was jumping in his cage from joy._

_ "Just wanted to ask if I should use Kage Bunshin instead of ordinary Bunshin to pass the test. You know my problem. Or should I try my luck?"_

_**"Aww, no destruction... Anyway, we're not taking any chances, so use Kage Bunshin. I think you can slowly start to show your true abilities. ***yawn*** I'm going back to sleep now."**_ Kyuubi answered and cut the link.

"Naruto, are you alright?" Iruka worriedly asked.

"Sorry, I was just thinking something. You perfectly know I have problems with Bunshin, right?" Naruto asked.

Iruka nodded. "Yes. But it is necessary to know in order to become a genin."

"I know. I still think bunshin is useless on the battlefield because even average genin can tell the difference between them. Anyway, what is the minimum number of clones required?"

"Umm, usually 3 clones, but the more you make the better score you get." the teacher answered.

"I see. Can I do other kind of bunshin?"

"Other kind of bunshin?" Iruka asked as he raised an eyebrow.

"Yes. The Kage Bunshin." Naruto stated as a matter of fact.

Iruka widened his eyes and then laughed a bit. "Nice joke there, I almost believed you. Firstly I don't know how you found out about such jutsu, but it's a B-ranked kinjutsu. Secondly, there's no possible way you could perform the jutsu."

Naruto sighed. Of course - no one would believe him for being able perform jounin level jutsu. He shrugged his shoulders and made a cross-seal. "See for yourself then. **Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!**"

There was a small cloud of smoke and after it dissipated , there stood 6 Narutos. Iruka widened his eyes once again, his jaw touching the ground. To prove they were solid, one of the clones came to the desk and picked up Iruka's pen while the other touched his shoulder. Now Iruka was gaping like fish.

"What the hell? How?" Iruka managed to ask as Naruto dispelled his clones.

"You're like older brother to me, almost like father figure, so I guess I can reveal some things." Iruka smiled at how Naruto though of him, although he was surprised at Naruto's face expression. Gone was goofy smile, gone was the dumb look. He stood there like professional and his serious voice emphasized it "Firstly, everyone sees me weak and dead last only because that's what I allow everyone to see. Secondly, my crush on Sakura is lie, my bad scores is a lie as well, my idiot attitude is just acting. I can easily match you in fair combat. Thirdly, Sasuke and Sakura is with me, so you can already pass them."

Now Iruka was shocked. He knew Naruto was acting like an idiot, but to believe he was stronger than Iruka... it couldn't be true, could it? He wouldn't be surprised, though, knowing that Naruto was the most unpredictable kid in the village. And then there's the fact that Sasuke and Sakura is with him too.

"Why? Why act like an idiot when you could show everyone how good you are." Iruka asked.

"I already showed how good I am." Naruto stated.

"Hm? But you're dead last..."

"Exactly. That's what reports will say. But how strong I truly am? Do you know? No. That's exactly what will give me an edge in battle - enemies will underestimate me and let their guard down. I already showed I'm capable ninja by hiding my true abilities. 'Deception is ninja's greatest weapon', right?" Naruto answered.

Iruka was impressed with Naruto's wise words. He had a point too.

"Wise words, Naruto. Didn't expect it to come from you."

"Thanks, Iruka-sensei. So, did I pass?"

"Of course. When you showed Kage Bunshin, only fool wouldn't pass you. Congratulations, Naruto, you're now officially genin of Konoha." Iruka proudly said and gave Naruto hitai-ate which he gladly accepted, but didn't put on.

"Why you're not putting it on?"

"I want to change the color of cloth to match my new outfit." Naruto answered.

"Hmm? New outfit?" Iruka curiously asked.

"You will see in time." Naruto smirked and walked away to class, "Thanks again, Iruka-sensei."

"No problem." he simply answered. _"I can feel he will go far."_

* * *

And so the day passed. Sasuke and Sakura too became genins, where Sasuke was rookie of the year and Sakura the top kunoichi. Now all three of them were eating their lunch near Uchiha lake and discussing various things._  
_

"I hope we will be placed on the same team." Sakura said as she took another sushi.

Sasuke glanced over Sakura and sipped some tea "Next week we have to come over academy again for team placement. I agree with you, Sakura, I hope Hokage-sama will put us on one team."

"Talking about jiji..." Naruto muttered, bit his thumb, quickly did some hand seals and exclaimed "**Kuchiyose no Jutsu!**"

In a puff of smoke, two familiar foxes appeared.

"YORU-CHAN!" exclaimed Sakura as said black fox jumped on her lap. Sakura then started to scratch behind Yoru's ears.

Yes, Sakura knew about Naruto's tenant. Naruto told her when they were 11 (2 years ago). But before he told her, he gave her a book on basic fuuinjutsu to read first. At that time Sakura didn't know why Naruto gave her that book, but she accepted. She was always happy learning new things. When Naruto finally told her, she was shocked. It made a lot of sense, but it was shocking nevertheless. She didn't come to team training for a week and tried to avoid Naruto. She then understood why Naruto gave her that book. In the end -after a lot of thinking- she accepted it; after knowing Naruto for some time, it was impossible to think he was an evil demon. Her respect for blonde only grew seeing how he still wanted to protect this village after all the hatred he received.

Yara, the yellow fox, sighed and said (yipped to Sasuke and Sakura) "Is there something you need, Naruto-sama?"

Naruto sighed, all the foxes still called him -sama. "Yes," he finally said "Take this note to the Hokage. Make sure no one sees you, even him."

"As you wish." but before Yara could go, Yoru decided she got enough 'massage' from Sakura and approached Naruto.

"Naruto-sama, can you bit your thumb again and donate some blood into this tube, please?" she said. Then, out of nowhere, a tube appeared which she took with her tail.

Well that was something unexpected. "What for?"

"Surprise." was the only answer as Yoru grinned.

Naruto trusted them well enough so he agreed. "How much?"

"Few drops will be enough." And then Naruto did as he was asked. Yoru took the tube back and sealed it inside her... fur? That was strange... Then both foxes dissapeared in a burst of speed, trying to reach Hokage's tower as quickly as possible.

"I wonder why foxes needed your blood..." Sakura muttered.

"I bet they will make something from it. Like weapon. You know, gift for graduating or something like that." Naruto answered.

"Yeah. I guess so."

"What was written in the note, dobe?" After all this time, Sasuke still called him like that...

"Lets say I just made sure we will be in one team." Naruto answered as he grinned.

Sakura sighed. Although Naruto was acting much, much more mature, he still had prankster soul.

"Back to the topic. Who you think will be our sensei?" Sakura asked.

"I think it will either be Kurenai Yuhi, Asuma Sarutobi, Genma Shiranui or Kakashi Hatake, the ex-ANBU captain." Sasuke answered.

Over the years two scout foxes didn't stop gathering information on various jounins. Three teens now knew basic stuff of most jounins of the village and more advanced stuff, like jutsu and fighting style, of selected few which they were interested in. Foxes stopped their research when Naruto asked them to. He said the information they now had was enough so two foxes could rest.

"Nor Kurenai or Genma will be our sensei. I think Kurenai will be with tracker team, seeing how she is genjutsu specialist. She wouldn't have much to teach us. The same goes for Genma: he is assassin type ninja. Although he has very good kenjutsu skills, he could teach a lot to emo, and some katas in kenjutsu to me, while Sakura would gain nothing, meaning Sasuke will advance quicker and leave us behind, thus disrupting our teamwork." Naruto explained. Seeing that Sasuke and Sakura listens and understands, he continued "Now for Asuma. He is well versed fighter. He has excellent taijutsu, nice kenjutsu and good ninjutsu skills. For his kenjutsu he uses trench knives, meaning his fighting style in kenjutsu is the same as his taijutsu. He could teach something to Sasuke and me, but once again Sakura will be left behind. If they choose teams according to academy reports, Sakura is suited for genjutsu for her 'small chakra reserves' and good control, but Asuma doesn't have any genjutsu. Now for Kakashi." he paused a little, remembering everything he knew about said jounin "Probably he will be our jounin sensei. Thanks to his sharingan, it is rumored he has copied over 1000 jutsu. He could teach me new jutsu, train Sasuke in sharingan and train Sakura in genjutsu. Kakashi is well rounded fighter, jack-of-all trades. Also, he is all about teamwork. According to what Yoru and Yara reports, Kakashi says_ 'Individual skills are good, but teamwork is more important; good teamwork will lead to mission's success'_ and they also heard how he once said _'T__hose who break the rules are scum, but those who abandon their friends are worse than scum'_. With Kakashi we will gain the most success and training than from others. Also, he can help us improve our teamwork. It is already perfect, but he can suggest some new formations."

Naruto's interpretation and explaining skills never cease to amaze Sakura and Sasuke. They still can't believe he was such an idiot. Nevertheless, they agreed to his reasoning. He had a good points.

"I see. What should we do this week? We have more time now when we don't need to attend the academy." Sasuke said.

"Sasuke is right. What should we do?" Sakura asked. She stopped calling him 'Sasuke-kun' after one year of joint training, seeing how Sasuke does not react. She understood Sasuke liked strong kunoichi. When she realized that she took her training more serious, determined to prove she was strong. That's also when her dream changed. She wanted to be strong kunoichi. Just like one slug sannin was. Well, a wish to be with Sasuke didn't disappear, though. She still had hope.

"I say we train. Nothing serious, just go through our formations and some jutsu again. Just to be in shape when true genin test comes." Naruto answered.

Yes, they also knew about another test. A year ago Yoru saw how new genins were doing something with their sensei. When she came closer she saw terrifying green spandex suit, bowl cut hairstyle and those... those unnaturally huge eyebrows. Despite her fear and terror she decided to look what they were up to. She listened to their conversation and found out about another test which all senseis give their student. The test was to land a single hit on sensei. Sounds easy, until the same green wielding terror mentioned their right hand being tied back and a piece of cloth in their mouths to prevent speaking and a weight on their right ankle. Not wanting to see the result, Yoru went elsewhere. Good thing each sensei had different test...

"Right. Good idea, like always." Sakura said and smiled. In her opinion, Naruto was true genius.

"Whatever. See you guys tomorrow at 9 a.m. here." Sasuke waved his hand and dissapeared in shunshin.

"See ya, emo/Bye, Sasuke." both Naruto and Sakura said simultaneously. With that three of them disappeared in various shunshin - Sakura in cherry blossom leaves, Sasuke in crow feathers and Naruto in orange-reddish flash. No it wasn't Hiraishin, just effect of his designed shunshin, which could greatly distract people.

**-With Hokage-**

In Hokage tower things went in usual pace: Yumi, Hokage's secretary, slacking off by reading some magazine and Hokage himself cursing on ever rising paperwork. Really, that paperwork will kill him someday. Sighing, he decided to rest a bit. He almost reached the hidden drawer where he kept his Icha Icha book, when suddenly he heard a knock on the window. Curious, Hiruzen turned around to look who knocked. His first thought was his pupil, Jiraya, but when he turned around, there was no one. A bit confused Hiruzen stood up and saw a piece of paper on the windowsill. He took the paper and read it:

_"Put Naruto Uzumaki, Sakura Haruno and Sasuke Uchiha on one genin team. If you fail to do so, your 'precious' books will find their rest in fire. That is, until they turn to ash._

_Also, can you get a red cloth for Naruto's, Sakura's and Sasuke's hitai-ate?  
_

_ Don't forget I have your books and other material to blackmail you. Remember that in night in the bar? Hah.  
_

_- Regards, friend of Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke."_

Old Sarutobi paled. In a blink of an eye he reached his secret drawer and opened it. His heart almost stopped from what he saw. The drawer was empty. ALL his precious books were taken. Fear clearly evident his eyes, he reached Shodaime Hokage's portrait, which hung on the wall, and took it off the wall. Behind the picture had a small safe with numbers. He quickly entered the required code. His heart missed some beats. It looked like eternity has passed and he still stared at the EMPTY safe.

"EMPTY..." he shouted "How? Who?"

He put the picture back and sat back at his desk, sweating bullets.

_"What should I do in this situation?"_ he thought _"I didn't want to put them on one team, but looks like I don't have a choice... Damn bastard! Whoever did this, will regret it."_

* * *

**-Timeskip: 1 week-**

A week has passed and the trio can be found in academy, sitting in the middle of classroom. Naruto was between Sasuke and Sakura, where Sakura was right and Sasuke left from blonde. All three of them had satisfied smirk. Why? Because today was finally the day when they stopped acting like idiots.**  
**

Finally Iruka came and started his speech about dangerous ninja life, etc. Then he decided to call the teams.

"Okay, now I will call the teams. Team 1..." Iruka started

_(A/N:I'll skip unimportant teams)_

"Team 7 will consist of Sasuke Uchiha..." Iruka started and paused a bit, giving some dramatic effect. He looked at the class and saw how most girls had hungry look. Smirking he continued "...Sakura Haruno..."

Shouts of disapproval from few luckily remaining fan-girls were heard.

"WHAT?"

"It should be me!"

"No way Billboard brow is with him!" Ino shouted!

Then all of the girls who were shouting felt massive killing intent (KI) and all of them were on their knees, breathing heavily and gasping for air. They looked up and saw Naruto staring at them.

"Can you shut the hell up? Your shouting gives me headache." Naruto loudly said. As suddenly as KI appeared, it disappeared. In his third year of training, Kyuubi started to teach Naruto how to release KI and intimidate his opponents. Thanks to his dense chakra and fox inside, he brought KI to a completely different level.

All class was silent, staring at Naruto with shock. No way that KI was from dead last of the class. Though they noticed that both Sakura and Sasuke were not surprised.

"Did I really was like those fan-girls?" Sakura said to herself for countless time. "It figures why Sasuke never noticed me."

Another wave of shock went past the students. Especially Ino. Ino expected Sakura to burst out cheering, but here she was - sitting quietly as if she knew it will happy and not cheering, didn't hit Naruto for such words and said Sasuke without -kun suffix. Sakura's voice was neither sad or happy, just neutral.

A few seconds passed in silence when Iruka had decided it was enough. At one point he was surprised, but at the other he wasn't - Naruto mentioned that they were training with him after all, meaning that their behavior was part of acting too.

"And the last member of team 7..." he brought everyone's attention back to him "... Naruto Uzumaki."

There was a loud cheering from three of them.

"YATTA! It worked!" shouted Naruto as he did high five with both Sakura and Sasuke.

"Naruto, you're genius." stated Sasuke with a smirk.

"I know, right."

"Naruto, how did managed to convince Hokage-sama to put us on one team?" Sakura asked.

"Well, I know jiji's weakness. Besides I have my ways." Naruto replied with a grin.

Well that was shock to everyone. This day was a legend - Sasuke smiled and complimented Naruto for being _genius_ and called him by name instead of 'dobe', then it appears Naruto was the one who convinced Hokage to put them one team. It was too much for them.

"It was planned all along, Forehead girl?" asked Ino.

"Planned what?" Sakura counter asked.

"This. That you would be one team. How long have you planned it? Is this why your behavior was a bit different? Just to get closer to Sasuke-kun?"

Sakura sweatdropped. "Err, no. As you can see I'm also happy that Naruto is on my team. Yes it was planned, but not for Sasuke. Ino-pig, you should consider your priorities. Sasuke will not be there to save your ass every time you do something wrong in a mission." she replied with a calm voice.

Ino was speechless. "What do you mean by 'consider priorities?" she finally asked.

"Sakura, don't bother. Fan-girl is a fan-girl and only harsh truth will open her eyes. When she will finally see how weak she truly is, which will happen on at least C ranked mission, only then she would understand." Sasuke said not even looking at Ino.

"Geez, Sasuke, why you're so cold with girls?" Naruto asked.

"Naruto, you perfectly know I don't like weak kunoichi, especially fan-girls who care only about their look. Imagine if we're on the mission and the only thing girl does is staring at me." Sasuke replied.

"Well yeah, you've got the point. Still you could be a little gentler to Ino." Naruto said.

"Hmph. If you want, you can be _gentle_ with her in private. I'm just stating the truth." Sasuke said emphasizing word 'gentle' with a grin, giving a hidden meaning which Naruto understood.

Naruto blushed and quickly said "Whatever. Lets listen to what other teams there will be."

Ino sat there quietly, not even hearing the rest of conversation. Some other also were surprised of Sasuke's and Naruto's friendliness.

"Your sensei will be Kakashi Hatake." Iruka finally said when everyone shut their mouths.

"Just as you said, Naruto." Sakura said.

"Now, for other teams..."

And so Iruka called all the teams and their jounin senseis. Then, one after another, genins started to walk away with their respective senseis until just one team left.

"He's late..." Sasuke stated obvious fact.

"Probably he will be late for 3 hours, just as your foxes said, Naruto." Sakura couldn't believe it was truth. Did Kakashi really was jounin?

Naruto sighed. "Hey. Lets grab some lunch and visit jiji."

"But we have to wait for Kakashi-sensei." Sakura pleaded.

"Sakura, if he thinks we will wait for him 3 hours, then he is wrong." Sasuke stated.

After a brief silence, Naruto had an idea. "Hey! I've got an idea." getting curious looks from both his teammates, he continued "If he will late for 3 hours, lets come back after 4. Just to teach him a lesson and give him an idea how it feels."

"Genius, dobe, genius. I'm with you!" Sasuke said without a second of thought. Both boys looked at Sakura, expecting an answer.

She really didn't want to make sensei mad, but if boys had decided some prank, nothing can stop them. "I guess I have no choice." she sighed "Together 'till the end."

All three of them smiled. After 4 years of joint training and spending time together, they forged a strong bond and close friendship. 'No matter hardships in life, no matter armies we face - united we stand 'till the end' was their motto. They made it up after three of them faced an army of Naruto's clones in a spar. The motto itself was inspiring. It was spectacular fight. It was a good thing Naruto placed various seals including chakra suppression seals around the Uchiha district, otherwise whole village would feel like another war started.

"So, where to?" Sakura asked.

"Lets go to 'Akimi BBQ'" Sasuke suggested, "No offense to your 'glorious' ramen, Naruto, but we eat it most of the time. Today should be a special day to us so lets celebrate it."

"Alright. I just hope they won't throw me out." Naruto sadly said.

Sakura really didn't like seeing Naruto sad. It was so wrong - usually Naruto was cheerful guy who could brighten everyone's mood. Also after finding out about the fox, she couldn't help but feel a little bit disgusted with villagers. Really, Naruto didn't do anything to the villagers, yet he was treated like a trash.

"Alright, lets go!" Sakura cheered.

* * *

**-Akimi BBQ-**

'Akimi BBQ' was a large restaurant owned by Akimichi clan. The trio walked in and looked for a free space to sit, in this time of a day the restaurant was a bit crowded with few empty spaces.

They finally found what they were looking for - a table with free spaces at the end of the restaurant, in the corner. It was right after the table where team 10, consisting of Ino, Shikamaru, Choji and Asuma were sitting. They greeted team 10 as they reached their table.

"Yo Shika, Choji." greeted Naruto. Sakura waved her hand and Sasuke nodded and went to their table, while Naruto stayed behind to talk. They were his friends after all.

"So guys, what are you doing here?"Naruto asked.

"Tch, troublesome. We have a team meeting here." Shikamaru said.

"What are YOU doing here, kids?" Asuma asked as he observed the trio who looked completely calm despite the fact that they had to be in similar team meeting.

"Hm? Oh, I guess you know Kakashi. Since he is always 3 hours late, we decided to teach him a lesson and arrive a hour later AFTER he arrives. Meaning we will go back to academy in 4 hours. We will also use one of his lame excuses. Now we will just celebrate our promotion and discuss some things. Ok, I'm going back to my teammates. See ya!" he said and went to their table, which was right beside team 10's table.

Asuma looked surprised "I want to see Kakashi's reaction to this. I wonder how they know Kakashi so well..."

"What are you talking about? This Kakashi you speak of will be mad." Choji said.

"Kakashi is always late for everything for 2 or 3 hours, unless it is A or higher ranked mission. He always gives some lame excuses, like 'I saw an old lady with bags so I had to help her' or 'I lost my way on the road of life' or something like that." Asuma answered with a small laugh.

"Is he really jounin?" Shikamaru asked.

"Yes. He is even stronger than I am." Asuma truthfully answered.

Meanwhile, Ino was observing team 7 with a hint of jealousy. Sakura, along with Naruto and Sasuke were laughing about something. They looked happy. And it was the first time she saw Sasuke laughing.

Finally waitress came to team 7 to write down their order. When she saw Naruto, she gasped.

"Y-You a-are..." She stuttered.

Noticing the waitress staring at him, Naruto raised his head and looked right into her eyes. He thought she will throw them out, that's why he tried to be polite. "Is something the matter, miss?"

When she looked into his eyes, she widened hers "Y-Yondaime-sama... S-so it's true..." she whispered as she dropped her notepad. The whole restaurant went silent as they looked at the trio. Even the team 10.

Now it was Naruto's turn to widen his eyes. He quickly lowered his head in stared into the menu. Realizing what is going to happen, Sasuke decided to place his order to switch attention to him "So, can I place my order?" he asked.

Waitress turned her head and saw the Uchiha. She remembered where she was and slightly blushed in embarrassment. She quickly picked up her notepad and replied "O-Of course. What will be your orders?"

As they placed their orders, waitress disappeared in the kitchen.

"That was close one, Naruto." Sakura whispered.

Yup. Both Sasuke and Sakura knew about Naruto's lineage. Once, in a break after their training, Sakura mentioned that Naruto looks much like Yondaime. Naruto trusted them enough to reveal the truth, so he told them about his father. To say they were shocked was an underestimation.

"I know. How did she knew, though?" Naruto replied.

"Obviously because of your hairstyle and eyes. Why did you keep your hair that way if you don't want to reveal anything yet?" Sasuke whispered back.

"I don't think it's his hair, Sasuke. Even before that, he looked much like Yondaime-sama, but no one noticed. Someone started the rumors." Sakura reasoned.

"I guess you're right... I just wonder who." Sasuke replied.

"I've got someone in mind." Naruto whispered as he narrowed his eyes.

Then, their food arrived. They spent an hour at the restaurant. They had a conversation on light topics as they ate. As they finished, they paid for their meal and left the restaurant in hopes that no one heard them whispering about Yondaime. And no one heard, except for one guy who had his hair tied in pineapple style. His brain was already working overtime.

"Lets go to jiji." Naruto suggested and everyone agreed.

-With Hokage-

Hokage was sitting behind his desk and working on pile of paperwork, which was considerably smaller than it usually was. All thanks to the the missing orange book which didn't distract him over this week.

Suddenly, a door to the office snapped open as someone kicked it. And kicked it hard. In a blink of an eye the 4 ANBU, who were hidden in the shadows, were standing in front of desk and guarding Hokage from the intruder.

"Geez, ojiisan, you need to train your ANBU better." the now revealed Naruto said. He and both teens with him entered the office.

"Sorry Hokage-sama. Naruto is an idiot..." Sakura bowed and apologized.

"Don't worry, he always enters my office this way and ANBU still can't get used to it. And what do you meant by 'train better', Naruto-kun?" Hokage asked as he signaled his ANBU to stand down.

"Why jump and reveal yourself, if you can wait and see who is intruder and then strike from shadows while no one suspects it... Ninja should be stealthy, right?" Naruto explained.

ANBU who heard it wanted to commit a suicide, because some kid fresh from academy outsmarted them in a ways of ninja... shame.

Hokage sweatdropped. "Right. Anyway, what brings you here? Shouldn't you be with your jounin sensei?"

"To answer you seconds question, Hokage-sama, we know Kakashi is always 2 or 3 hours late, so we decided to come back in 4 hours. Just to show him how it feels." Sasuke replied.

Another sweatdrop. "I see. I hope after today he won't be late that often."

"I doubt it."

"Right. So what bring you here?"

This time it was Naruto who answered. "Well I came here to take my new cloth for hitai-ate."

"Oh, right." Hokage said and reached his drawer and took 3 brand new hitai-ate with long crimson cloth. "I couldn't get just cloth so I ordered to make new hitai-ate. Is that alright?"

"Sure thing, ojiisan. Here's my academy hitai-ate." Naruto replied as he handed the old Hokage his hitai-ate and took the new one. The others did the same.

"Thanks, Hokage-sama." Sakura said.

"No problem." he replied. "So. Care to tell me about your _friend_, Naruto-kun?" he threatened.

Understanding what he was talking about, he reached his pocket, took out a scroll and gave it to Hokage. "Everything will be explained inside. We'll hang out a bit and then return to academy. See ya later, ojiisan." he said and quickly went away with both his teammates.

"Hmm. He looked a bit nervous." Hokage muttered. He opened the scroll and noticed it was in fact a sealing scroll. He channeled some chakra into it and in a large puff of smoke a large amount of... books appeared. Hokage's eyes widened. "No way..."

He then found s small note on top of the pile of books. It said:

_"Sorry, ojiisan. But I had to practice my stealth. Here are all the books and don't even bother to ask when or how, because I'm not telling ya.  
_

_- Uzumaki-Namikaze Naruto  
_

_P.S. Although I hate perverts, the book was rather interesting..."_

"NARUTOOOO!" shouted Hokage._  
_

* * *

3 hours have passed since team announcement and one-eyed jounin decided to show up. He finally reached the doors of classroom, where his team supposed to be. Kakashi expected a prank from Naruto and decided to play along. He slid the doors open, entered the classroom and... face faulted. No one was there.

"What the fuck? Bastards ruined my epic entrance..." Kakashi muttered. He then spotted a small note on teacher's table. He approached the table and read the note:

_"Yo, Kakashi. We expected you to be 3 hours late so we decided to spent our time doing something useful. Feel annoyed and angry? Well that's how people feel when they're waiting for you._

_ Anyway, now you gotta wait for us. If we come and you're not there, I'll report it to Hokage. And I assure you that ojiisan could punish you in most horrible way - little convincing from my side and you'll be banned from buying your perverted Icha Icha books. Hmm, maybe if I'm in bad mood I could also convince him to confiscate your 'Icha Icha Paradise: Eden blooming rose. Gold edition' seeing how he doesn't have one.  
_

_That is, if you wouldn't be in classroom when we arrive.  
_

_-Naruto"_

Kakashi dropped the note in utter horror. "He wouldn't... But, how did he knew I have this edition? Better yet, how he knew Hokage-sama didn't have it?" he let out a breath and sighed. He really didn't have any options. So he went to closest seat and to make the time pass more quickly, he took out his Icha Icha and started to read.

After 30 seconds of reading he noticed how he had some trouble reading. He now really had to concentrate to make out the words. After some more seconds he couldn't make out words at all. _  
_

_"What the hell?"_ he thought, never noticing a faint glow from some kind of seal on the ceiling. "Will have to visit hospital to check my sight. What should I do then?"

And so the hour passed. It was really slow hour for Kakashi because it was so boooring. He couldn't fall asleep and couldn't read. Finally he heard some steps outside of the room and tensed, ready to scold the new genins, Then, the door slid open.

"Oh, hi Kakashi. Sorry we're late. You see..." Naruto started off.

"...a dozen of black cats crossed our path..." Sasuke continued.

"...so we had to take a looong path around the village..." Sakura continued.

"...so we wouldn't get a bad luck." Naruto finished. They practiced Kakashi's excuses for some time now, because it was a great way to annoy people. All three of them grinned at Kakashi's face expression of pure shock and disbelief.

"B-but t-that's my lines..." Kakashi stuttered.

"Exactly. Anyway, lets head to the roof and do all that introduction thingy." Naruto said and ran off to the stairs along with Sakura and Sasuke.

"What just happened?" Kakashi muttered and shunshin'ed to rooftop.

**-Rooftop-**

"Right" Kakashi started "Lets introduce ourselves, tell me about your..." _(A/N: canon introduction + speech about true genin test)_

Before Kakashi shunshin'ed away, he thought as he narrowed his eyes _"Something's wrong here. When they entered the classroom they were all friendly and cooperative, but now they acted like an idiot, fan-girl and avenger. Oh well, tomorrow we shall see." _

With Kakashi gone they relaxed. Their acting went perfect, although it was hard to suppress their urge to laugh. It was hilarious and they can't wait for tomorrow to show what they are capable of.

"I suggest you to have breakfast and arrive 2 hours later." Naruto finally said.

"But Kakashi-sensei said not to eat." Sakura reasoned.

"He _suggested_ not to have breakfast. If we want to kick his ass, we have to be 100%." Sasuke said.

"Fine. I guess you're right..." Sakura said. Although she wasn't a fan-girl anymore, she still almost always agreed with the Uchiha. Not that said boy minded that...

"Besides, why only 2 hours instead of 3? He is usually 3 hours late, right?" Sasuke asked.

"Yes, you're right. We will spent that one hour to decide which strategy we will use against him. That 1 hour should be enough to prepare . Don't forget he is not elite jounin just for showoff." Naruto said.

"Right. Good point." Sasuke answered. "See you tomorrow."

"See ya!"

"Bye!"

They made sure no one was watching and used their respective shunshins to get home.

* * *

**-Next morning-**

It was 8.a.m and team 7 arrived to training ground 12. There they found a nice place by huge tree and discussed their upcoming battle. Exactly after one hour Kakashi appeared in a swirl of leaves.

"Yo." he said with an eye-smile. When he didn't receive any shouts for being late, he curiously observed his genins as they came out from tree's shadow. He was surprised at their appearances.

(A/N: Sasuke had that outfit he wore at chuunin exams)

Sakura wore long shinobi boots over white ANBU pants which was secured with a black belt. There was a shuriken and supply pouch attached to belt and kunai holster attached to her right thigh, while on the right thigh she had some kind of knife or dirk for quick reach. She wore a short-sleeved, black top over mesh armor which exposed her build up belly. Over that she wore a short-sleeved, red trench coat which reached her mid-shins (the coat was made in her previous outfit's style). She wore her hitai-ate like a ribbon in hair. *1*

Then he looked at Naruto. He looked just like his father. Naruto wore dark blue usual shinobi pants with shinobi boots and a kunai holster attached to his right thigh. Then he wore a dark blue shinobi top with long left sleeve and sleeveless right. He also had fingerless, black gloves with small metal plates on his knuckles. Pants and top looked like one piece suite with an orange belt around his waist. Furthermore, there appears to have some kind of seal on his right wrist, although he couldn't inspect it in more detail from that distance. Naruto wore his hitai-ate around forehead.

Kakashi also noticed that cloth of all their hitai-ate were crimson.

"Wow." he said "You look different." _"Honestly, you look professional."_ he added after thought.

"I suppose we would. We changed our clothes after all. Now, tell us about this test." Naruto said while the other two just nodded.

"Right..." And so Kakashi explained his test. "... if you want to get the bells you have to come to me with intention to kill."

"Is lethal force allowed?" Sasuke asked.

Kakashi eye-smiled "Of course. It's not like _you_, weak genin, could even scratch me." He taunted but to his surprise it didn't work. He expected Sasuke to lash out at him for such statement, but fate had other plans. He saw how all of them smirked. Suddenly, he felt dread aura come over him. Kakashi just got a feeling of soon-to-come beating. They were genin! They couldn't even land more than one hit, right? ... Right?...

"You have time until noon. HAJIME!" Kakashi shouted.

Naruto crossed his arms and with confident smirk called out "Formation 'Mesmer'!" and with that both Sakura and Sasuke jumped to hide in the forest, both in opposite directions, while Naruto remained in front of Kakashi _"Finally it is time to show the result of our training!"_

* * *

**_END!  
_**

**_Any feedback would be appreciated, as well as constructive criticism. Thanks!  
_**

**__*****1* For Sakura's new outfit look in my profile.**  



	5. Chapter 5: The way it should Be

**Some answers to reviews:**

**Gaaraxx33: Thanks! And I know about Nightfall, it's one of my favorites as well. It was actually one of the stories which inspired me.**

**MadaraRennigan: Thanks for the praise, but I believe there's better stories than mine.**

**Dragonskyt: I know right. I sometimes think cannon Naruto is masochist. If you know what I mean.**

**xxOMGgalxx: Thanks a lot! I'm trying to update as fast as I can, but I usually have a writing spree only on weekends.**

**Freakfondu: I know what you mean. I too like good Sasuke bashing, but I also enjoy good Sasuke fics. Fics where he is good and not yaoi are rare.**

**semaxx3: That's the best comparison there is. I can also compare a jar and ramen in it. Like if ramen is in jar it doesn't mean the jar itself is ramen. But, well, that's stupid comparison and Sakura would bash Naruto's head once again. lol**

**THANKS FOR REVIEWS! KEEP 'EM GOING!**

**! Can someone please suggest a grammar/sentence structure beta reader who is STILL coming in this website. I've written like 12 PMs to 12 different beta readers and only ONE answered me. Yet this one is not answering my PMs for second week now. It would be great if you would suggest some. Thanks for your time anyway.**

**Also, there is going to be a fight scene written in my humble english. I hope it won't ruin the pleasure of reading. I really tried.**

**I would also like to receive some feedback which tells - did you liked the fight scene, what could be improved, etc. It's really appreciated and it helps in development of my writing. **

**Also I want to announce that with next chapter I'll try to combine few first chapters together. In my point of view, beginning is really slow and dividing them in several chapters is pointless. If it's possible, I'll combine them so don't be surprised if you see fewer chapters.**

**On with the story then.**

******Disclaimer: I do not own Narutoverse, but OCs are mine unless I say otherwise.**

* * *

**Chapter 5**

**The way it should be**

**-Council room-  
**

In Hokage's mansion, in council room, Hokage sat in his throne, behind a large desk. His fingers were interlocked and he looked over all jounin sensei gathered here, trying to find out who was absent. It wasn't council meeting, no, just a meeting of jounin sensei to declare which teams passed true genin exams and which didn't. Obviously there were many non-sensei jounin who were present just to hear everything in live - who passed and who not and various notes on genin. There were various discussions around the room and the most famous were about new genins. They discussed things like who failed, who passed, potential of team and such.

Hokage raised his hand asking for silence. Immediately room was silent as cemetery in a funeral day.

"I see everyone except Kakashi is present here." Hokage sighed "I had enough of his lateness. Lets see what's more important than a meeting." Hokage took out his crystal ball and placed on desk.

"But Hokage-sama! You're about to invade someone's privacy." some random jounin objected.

"Yes and I really don't want to do it but I need to know _why_ he is late for this meeting. Have you ever wondered why he is always late?" some ninjas nodded, "Well then it's about time to find out why he is late _today_." Hokage said. He did some handseals and focused on Kakashi's chakra "**Hokage art: All seeing eye projection!**" _(A/N: lame jutsu name, ne?)_

As he finished the last syllable, a blue light escaped the crystal ball and made a screen in the air which showed three genin and one eyed jounin, who was still explaining the exam.

"No way. He had to do the exam yesterday!" Kurenai shouted.

"Wow. His genin looks amazing!" said random jounin when he noticed the outfits. "They look like experienced shinobi."

"Hey! Who's the blonde brat?" asked another jounin. When he closely inspected the blonde kid, he gasped "No way! Yondaime-sama!"

Hiruzen started to sweat bullets.

"No... it's Naruto Uzumaki, our jinchuuriki. But he looks like carbon copy of Yondaime-sama," another jounin answered. "I've heard rumors he is the son of Yondaime-sama."

Several jounin's widened their eyes. "But of course! Now it makes sense! Yondaime-sama wouldn't choose someone's else child to seal the beast. Also, a Kage would seal bijuu in a family member to ensure their loyalty to village." someone said and more eyes widened.

"Kami-sama... I wouldn't be surprised if he leaves the village after everything the village has done to him!"

"Enough!" shouted Hokage. All of the present ninjas were jounin and ANBU so they could talk about the Kyuubi without receiving the punishment. "I admit it, Naruto-kun here is Yondaime's son and he knows it. I won't make a law, but please don't talk about it in public - I don't need civilians running around and worshiping him. And don't worry about his loyalty. Even after everything the civilians have done to him, he still promised to be a loyal ninja and to protect them. He promised to prove that he is not the beast, but his jailor. He promised he will show that he is Uzumaki-Namikaze Naruto the future Hokage of the leaf and I totally believe in him, because if he promises something, he won't break his word, that's his ninja way!"

When Hokage finished his little speech, many were stunned. All of the jounin now looked at Naruto differently. They now admired him - his determination and his devotion to village.

"I'll make sure to punish my ANBU for spreading rumors, because I forgot to mention it's classified when Naruto asked about his father. Damn old age." Hokage muttered as he rubbed his temples and some ninjas chuckled at that. "Anyway, the exam is about to begin. As you might now until now any team is yet to pass under Kakashi so lets see how these three will do."

Everyone now looked at the screen, but more specifically at Naruto. Yondaime was a genius, so maybe his son was as well. They knew that Naruto was 'dead-last' but in ninja world everything might happen.

* * *

**-With team 7-**

Naruto crossed his arms and with confident smirk called out "Formation 'Mesmer'!" and with that both Sakura and Sasuke jumped to hide in the forest, both in opposite directions, while Naruto remained in front of Kakashi.

_"At least they can hide..."_ Kakashi thought until he noticed that Naruto was still in front of him. "Ehh, Naruto. You're supposed to hide now."

"Oh yeah? I'll show what I'm made of!" Naruto shouted back and took basic academy stance, after which he run towards Kakashi at mid genin speed.

_"I suppose his new looks was just for showoff, hmm."_ Kakashi thought and pulled out his beloved Icha Icha.

Seeing the book Naruto smiled _"Perfect. Just like I thought."_

Naruto finally reached Kakashi and delivered right punch to man's face which was easily blocked by Kakashi's left arm, Kakashi's eyes never leaving the book. Naruto then elbowed him, following by kick in the gut, which were blocked with Kakashi's free hand. Naruto then landed and did a spinning kick, which Kakashi dodged by side stepping, following with punch. Kakashi had enough so he caught the fist and delivered a kick to Naruto's gut and sent the boy flying. Thankfully, before receiving the kick Naruto managed to focus some chakra to the impact point and lessen pain and received damage from the kick. While in mid air, Naruto flipped and softly landed on ground in crouching position. That's when all hell broke loose. _  
_

In some brushes, not far from Kakashi, sat Sakura and waited. She saw how Kakashi kicked Naruto and knew it is the awaited signal.

_"It's time."_ she thought and quicker than normal eyes could see did 15 or so handseals. **"Magen: Shuriken Storm - Binding ivy!" **she whispered and threw some shurikens.

Sensing danger, Kakashi turned around and his eyes widened. He saw _storm_ of shurikens coming in his direction. There were about 1000 of said pointy weapons. Realizing that it's only a genjutsu, he dispelled it and saw how 1000 turned to 10 shurikens. Realizing that genjutsu was only for distraction he was about to draw kunai and deflect the incoming missiles, when suddenly Kakashi felt like his movements were restrained. When he finally took out a kunai, it was too late because shurikens were almost in his face. So he dodged. His movement still was restrained, so he managed to dodge only 7 out of 10 shurikens. He had a small cut on his right cheek, deep cut on left shoulder and small cut on his left thigh. He finally looked down and saw some kind of vines or thorns around his legs and arms coming from ground.

"Another genjutsu! It was a double layered genjutsu from beginning. **KAI!**" Kakashi muttered and dispelled the genjutsu. Both genjutsu were pretty weak so it was hard to notice them, but easy to dispel. "It must be Sakura who's casting them. She has talent..." he said to himself. He sensed another danger. This time it was in opposite direction from where Sakura was.

"Now it's my turn!" said Sasuke and did quickly did some handseals "**Magen: Kunai dash!**" he whispered and threw some kunai.

Kakashi turned around and saw 20 or so kunai flying at him in astounding speed. Now when he dispelled a genjutsu, nothing stopped him from deflecting the kunai. He put his right hand (in which he held a kunai) forward and blocked the first kunai... only to it pass through him. Kakashi widened his eyes once again realizing it was again a genjutsu. He continued to block all the kunai, because he knew some of them are real, just like with shurikens and he will receive some cuts if he would try to dispel it. Soon enough he heard some some 'cling!' sounds, which proved his theory.

"**Magen: Imposter!**" Sasuke whispered his second jutsu exactly when the first kunai passed through Kakashi. **Kunai dash** and **Imposter** were the only genjutsu he knew and both of them relied on each other.

Suddenly, one third of the remaining kunai stopped in the air and before Kakashi could dispel the genjutsu, they... just dissolved in black smoke which was blown away with light imaginary breeze. Nevertheless, one-eyed man wasn't given any rest because he sensed a presence behind him. He quickly turned around on his heels just in time to notice Sasuke's last handseal. Kakashi's one visible eye widened once again when he heard Sasuke cry out "**Katon: Goukakyuu no jutsu!**"

A large fireball flew towards Kakashi and he managed to dodge by jumping to the side. He noticed that the fireball didn't produce any heat nor it exploded when collided with trees. He looked back at Sasuke only to notice the last remnant of black smoke. He then looked back, where the fireball should be and noticed the same black smoke dissipating in the air.

Kakashi stood there and tried to work out what happened.

_"They tried to confuse me and they did it just fine. Firstly, at the beginning Naruto distracted me so Sakura or Sasuke could cast double layered genjutsu. One of them was successful and managed to cut me in some places with shurikens. Then another kunai genjutsu was cast one me and I couldn't dispel it because real and illusion kunai were mixed together. They were pretty fast, so if I tried to dispel a genjutsu, one or two kunai would find their mark in my body. Hmm... Then yet another genjutsu were cast one me, this time imitating Sasuke and his jutsu. It could be either Sakura or Sasuke himself; both of them are capable of genjutsu and both of them knows some of Uchiha clan ninjutsu - Sakura from books, Sasuke because he is an Uchiha. Now the question is: what are they planning?"_ he thought within 2 seconds. He also didn't like the eerie silence which surrounded the training field. He still could hear the lake nearby, the light breeze in the trees and birds chirping. In a battlefield, this kind of silence was eerie, just as if someone got in a trap or an ambush is about to be executed... That's when Kakashi's one visible eye widened._ "It was all setup for a trap. But what exactly?"_

In a corner of his eye he noticed Sakura, who was running at him in mid genin speeds. Sakura threw some shurikens at Kakashi which the man easily dodged. As Sakura approached Kakashi, she jumped and did a falling axe kick with her right leg which the man easily blocked with his left forearm. Before Sakura could follow up with another attack, Kakashi caught her right leg with his right arm and spun 180° and threw the girl away. Sakura did a backflip in midair and gracefully landed on ground, after which she dashed towards Kakashi but this time in low chunin speed.

Kakashi raised an eyebrow at her speed and asked "So you're better than reports say after all. Are those two stronger than simple genin as well?" He didn't receive any answer, only punch in his face which he easily blocked. Sakura then followed with knee strike before punch to the gut, which Kakashi blocked. The one eyed man decided it's his turn to take offensive, so he tried to kick Sakura's head, but the girl crouched under the sweep kick and did a rising punch which Kakashi evaded by sidestepping. Kakashi then followed by elbow strike to face and knee to gut. The former one was blocked, but the latter still managed to connect with her gut. But instead of coughing in pain, 'Sakura' exploded in cherry blossom leaves which immediately surrounded wide eyed Kakashi and started to cut him in various places. It wasn't painful, more like tingling sensation which left some cuts and numbness.

The moment Kakashi felt the first cut, he realized it's a genjutsu and quickly dispelled it by making one handed ram sign and shouting "**KAI!**". But it was already too late because someone sliced his back with something and then kicked him in the back, hard. He fell on the ground, then rolled forward and quickly stood up, kunai already in hand all the while shaking off the numbing sensation from that strange sakura genjutsu. He saw Sasuke standing in a place where Kakashi himself was standing a second ago, smirking and holding a kunai with bloody tip. Sasuke then threw away the kunai and started to make a long set of handseal. Recognizing the jutsu he is making, once again wide eyed, Kakashi threw the kunai. Sasuke didn't even try dodge or block incoming missile - the kunai pierced Sasuke's left shoulder. Still smirking 'Sasuke' turned into dozen of dozens medium sized crows which flew towards Kakashi with hungry eyes. It looked like they were about to pierce him with their black beaks.

Realizing it's yet another genjutsu, Kakashi dispelled it.

"_What the fuck!_" he thought "_They are real, because I can feel their touch as well as they can injure me, yet when I strike they turn into a genjutsu. Wait. They turn into a genjutsu when I land a hit, meaning they're some kind of Bunshins._" then Kakashi realized "_Of course! They are combining Kage Bunshin with genjutsu! Instead of filling in Kage Bunshin with pure chakra, they create them utilizing chakra already adjusted for selected genjutsu, meaning that once the Kage Bunshin is dispelled, the genjutsu infused chakra is released and affect the surrounding area or a person. In other words, I think it's like Mizu Bunshin but instead of water chakra they're infused with genjutsu. Ingenious! But that leads to more questions: why and how a genin knows Kage Bunshin?, who creates them? These genin are something else!_"

All his observing and calculation happened in 4 seconds. In these 4 seconds Naruto appeared on scene. Kakashi saw him and already took out another kunai and took defensive stance. He was really confused and didn't know if that was real Naruto or kage bunshin. He also didn't know what if it was genjutsu infused kage bunshin or a simple one.

Naruto smirked and dashed towards Kakashi in mid chunin speed. "_He is __too fast to be a genin!_" Kakashi thought and threw the kunai into Naruto already knowing said blonde will dodge it. But 'Naruto' proved him wrong when kunai pierced his his heart and he disappeared in a... small cloud of smoke, just like Kage Bunshin should do. Not taking any chances, Kakashi did one handed ram handseal and said "**KAI!**". Nothing happened until he saw a shadow behind the smoke.

Another Naruto run through the smoke, even faster than previous one and jumped high into the air to avoid some shuriken. Kakashi looked up and if not for the serious battle he would snicker - Naruto was in the air, in front of the sun and his golden hair moving in the slight morning breeze, his arms on the sides, imitating some kind of wings. In Kakashi's opinion he looked like this one hero from the movie he had seen recently...

Back to to the battle. Kakashi threw another bunch of kunai. Unfortunately, or fortunately (it depends from which point of view), kunai barely reached halfway to the blond because 'Naruto' dispelled himself in a yellow flash. Kakashi was slightly blinded thanks to the yellow flash and sun, which he was staring at now when no one blocked a path of view, he did two backflips in case something was coming for him. No, he can't underestimate them anymore. When he landed he already recovered from his 2 seconds blindness. Sensing that something is coming he looked up, but it was already late. Numerous yellow tendrils, which glided through the air at faster than chunin speed, managed to wrap around Kakashi's arms and legs, restringing him from taking any action. Just when he was about to fall, he managed to slightly overpower the tendrils on his right arm and performed a quick **Kawarimi** with a log. He reappeared about 20 meters away from his previous place and those yellow tendrils were already gliding in his direction. Acting quickly, Kakashi dispelled the genjutsu.

One bead of sweat dropped from his right eyebrow.

"_No way! I actually broke a sweat just from dodging and dispelling the genjutsu._" he thought. Then he heard some bell jingling coming from lake where those three logs were. Panicking, he checked his left waist where the bells should be. Kakashi widened his eye when he didn't find his bells. He sighed and approached the three genin who were sitting on the ground, their backs to logs. It seems they had some kind of light chatting.

"...ace expression?" Kakashi heard as Sakura asked something to their teammates. He was getting closer so he already could hear what they're talking about.

"Yeah! Jeez, have you seen how many times he widened his cyclopean eye?" Naruto said and all three of them started to laugh. Well, Naruto and Sakura laughed while Sasuke snickered.

"I bet he didn't even expect it. In my opinion, he expected me to abandon both of you and try to get bells by myself and to prove something, Sakura to ignore Naruto and search for me, and Naruto to act like an idiot and charge ahead with his clones." Sasuke said. A sudden silence overtook them.

"I think that's exactly what would happen if we wouldn't meet and I didn't do my training." Naruto commented while holding a bell in his hand.

"Was I really that bad?" Sakura said, holding the bell as well.

Sasuke merely shrugged "Yes, you were." Sakura sighed, defeated. She knew it was said as a joke though.

They heard some footsteps closing in. The trio turned their heads in sound's direction and saw their sensei who curiously was observing them as he walked closer.

"Well, well, well. My little genin showed skill beyond my expectations." Kakashi commented in sing-song tone "You almost had me there!"

"Oh please, Kakashi. If it would be a real battle you would be dead 4 times already." Sasuke stated.

"What?" Kakashi raised his one visible eyebrow. "Care to elaborate that?"

"The first genjutsu, as you may already know, was a double layered one with some real shurikens. I cast it." Sakura started off the explanation "It wasn't powerful, but enough to mess up your senses. Then, the second genjutsu was cast by Sasuke. Your senses didn't have time to recover so they were messed up even further. The third genjutsu, where Sasuke shoots one of his techniques, was a final one in this sequence. In that moment Naruto easily took the bells. And thanks for so many genjutsu's your senses were so messed up that you didn't even sense him. In a real battle, it would be a moment of your death.

You see, these were low level genjutsu - they didn't require much chakra, they were harder to detect and thanks to that they looked quite real. Imagine if I would use a genjutsu where random meteorite falls on you or a tree grows beneath you and ensnares you. It would be quite obvious that those are genjutsu and you would manage to dispel them before they even affects you. Of course, higher level genjutsu requires much more chakra to dispel, but low level genjutsu requires more time to detect because it's hard to notice the small chakra usage." Sakura finished her explanation.

Then Naruto continued from that point "After we got bells, we decided to 'play' around with you. So we created Genjutsu Kage Bunshin. When one dispelled, we had approximately one or two seconds to kill you with ranged weapon or jutsu. If you would fight with real me and genjutsu filled kage bunshin, I would need just one second to kill you in close range. We created three clones, meaning three easy kills." he finished with a grin which threatened to split his face in two.

With each passing second Kakashi's eye widened further and further. It looked like that eye will jump out of its sockets. But they had a point. If it would be real battle, he would be dead four times. Even he admits that.

"Wow. I don't even know what to say." Kakashi finally said.

Sasuke snorted "Just say we're cool and you didn't expect that one from us."

"Well you're not as cool as me, but I admit it - you surprised me." Kakashi answered. "And it looks like my theory was right. They were Kage Bunshin filled with genjutsu. How did you made them?"

Naruto smirked "We can't tell you our trademark secrets now, can we?"

Sakura lightly smacked him in the head "Naruto, he is our sensei so we can tell him."

Naruto pouted as he rubbed his head "Alright..."

"It's not like he will know ALL our secrets." Sakura said "Anyway. It was actually Naruto who came up with that technique work like this - I do the handseals necessary for genjutsu and convert necessary amount of pure chakra to genjutsu chakra. Then via quick touch I guide said chakra to Naruto, who then uses it to add remaining amount of chakra needed for Kage Bunshin. You see, Naruto has..." Sakura quickly glanced to Naruto, who nodded in response "...a special chakra, so low level genjutsu doesn't affect him, especially the one made with simple chakra. Then, he created Kage Bunshin henges in one of us."

Kakashi slightly narrowed his eye _"Did she knows about the Kyuubi?"_

Sakura didn't notice Kakashi's face expression and continued "Surprisingly, Naruto has very good chakra control and he is able to guide both my genjutsu chakra and his chakra to cross seal without completely mixing them up, resulting in Kage Bunshin made with his chakra, but filled with my genjutsu. Originally, when Kage Bunshin dispels, it disappears in a cloud of smoke, but Genjutsu Kage Bunshin disperses in very small visible cloud of chakra. You don't see that chakra because half a second before Bunshin dispels, it affects you with genjutsu resulting in various effect. In this case, you saw how I dissolve in numbing cherry blossoms, Sasuke dissolves in dangerous crows and Naruto disappears in blinding yellow flash. By the way, all those genjutsu are created by me!" Sakura finished her explaining with a cheerful tone in the end. Both boys sweatdropped at her antics.

"It's really nasty when fighting both the real person and Genjutsu Kage Bunshin." Sasuke commented.

Kakashi was at loss of words. "Wow. That's pretty ingenious. I can clearly see the pros, but what are the cons?"

This time it was Naruto who answered "Firstly, it takes more time to create this kind of Bunshin, because I have to wait until Sakura finishes her handseals and guides her chakra into me. Secondly, it depends on the touch. If Sakura can't touch me, the technique can't be performed because I don't know any genjutsu at all. Even if I would know any, despite my good chakra control it would be utterly hard to create. I once tried it. Furthermore, if enemy didn't touch Kage Bunshin or if clone it self didn't touch the enemy then genjutsu would affect everyone in the area rather than just one, selected person. Thirdly, I can only create one Genjutsu Kage Bunshin at a time. If I want to create two, then we would have to repeat the process twice. If I create more than one with one go, then said genjutsu chakra would distribute between created Bunshins, but they would become original Kage Bunshins because they wouldn't have enough genjutsu chakra in them to perform the genjutsu. In this case, if I would create two copies of Sakura, the only thing you would see is how they disappear in cloud of cherry blossoms once they dispel. No whirling cherry blossoms around you, no numbing sensation at all."

"I see. Pretty clever though. Naruto, I think you invented a new type of bunshin." Kakashi said, quite surprised about technique.

"Hell yeah, I'm awesome!" Naruto almost shouted.

His other teammates just shook their heads. One moment he can be serious as hell, the other he is back to his cheerfulness.

"By the way, when did you managed to try out this? I can say for sure that to accomplish all these moves so smoothly, almost without talking, you trained together for some months. Reports from academy said you weren't very friendly to each other."

"Hn. Ask the dobe over there." Sasuke said with a smirk.

"Oi, emo, shut it." Naruto shot back. Oh how they loved to annoy each other. He then looked back at Kakashi "Anyway, Kakashi. Deception is ninja's greatest tool." he mysteriously said.

The man understood the secret meaning so he asked "So you want to say everything what happened in academy between you three was just façade?" seeing all three of them nod their head, he continued "Just how long you know each other outside the academy?"

"It doesn't matter, Kakashi. What matters is that what you just saw was a tip of an iceberg." Sasuke said.

Now that brought Kakashi's attention. "Hmm?"

"Before we say or show more, do we pass?" Sakura asked.

"Of course you three pass. The reason for this test was to see your teamwork. I had only to bells to-" before Kakashi could continue, Naruto interrupted him and continued in his place.

"make us fight between each other instead of trying to get bells from stronger opponent together. Also it was a test if we could get that secret meaning of teamwork."

"You knew all along?" Kakashi asked.

"Yeah. I've got my spies in the village. I'm sure you've seen them. Not only I know some of your techniques, but also your likes, dislikes, your hobbies and friends." Kakashi stared at him with wide eye "And you're not the only one. I won't reveal who else I have information on, because it doesn't matter now, but know that I'm completely loyal to the village and won't reveal this information to anybody, even to my fellow shinobi. They," he pointed at Sakura and Sasuke "won't reveal anything as well."

Kakashi let out a breath of reveal. "_These three are genin, but I have a feeling there's something more to them_."

"Okay then. It was a fun morning today and seeing as you all passed, you're dismissed." before he could shunshin away, Sakura stopped him.

"But Kakashi-sensei. Wouldn't you want to know what we're capable of in a fight?"

"Hmm? Oh but I already saw some of your skills."

"No, Kakashi, you haven't seen everything." Sasuke said as he and Naruto stood up.

"Yeah, you only saw some low level genjutsu performed by Sakura and Sasuke and Kage Bunshin from me. Do you really believe it's everything we can?" Naruto asked.

Kakashi thought about it a little and answered "Actually yes, I think that's everything you can."

All three of them face faulted.

"Kakashi." Sasuke addressed the man but Kakashi interrupted him.

"From this day I'm your sensei, so call me Kakashi-sensei."

"No." Sasuke deadpanned. "I won't call you sensei until you actually teach me something."

"Yeah, same here." Naruto added his voice on the matter. "Besides, I don't think there's much you can teach us at the moment."

Kakashi's one visible eyebrow raised so high that it threatened to disappear under his gravity defying hair. "Hmm? What do you mean?"

All three of them smirked and he didn't like that. Not even one bit.

"Kakashi." Sasuke started ignoring as Kakashi's quietly added 'sensei' at the end, "Fight with us. With your Sharingan. We will come at you in full strength and you do the same."

* * *

**-With Hokage and Co.-**

Half of the jounin present, including Hokage, were sitting on the floor and chewing a popcorn. No one know when, why or how they appeared, but it just appeared in the middle of the 'movie'.

At the beginning many were confused, when they saw how Kakashi was trying to dodge or block nothing but thin air. When Kakashi shouted 'KAI!' they understood he was under a genjutsu. And so they continued to watch how Kakashi was dancing around.

Then, what surprised them the most, was how easily Naruto approached Kakashi and took bells from his waist, the man didn't even notice it.

One of the jounin's were most impressed here. One Yuhi Kurenai.

"_Impressive for a genin. How strong genjutsu did they use to be to mess with his senses so much?_"

What surprised all of them the most were next events which includes Kage Bunshins, bursts of visible chakra when they disappear and Kakashi randomly shouting 'KAI!'.

"Wow, one of them knows Kage Bunshin!" someone said.

"It have to be Sasuke."

"I believe it's Yondaime's son, Naruto."

"Wait, they're not simple Kage Bunshins - they have to disappear in a cloud of smoke instead of chakra."

And so on and so on.

When the explanation part came, each passing second everyone's eyes became wider and wider until they were as wide as saucers. Kurenai was a bit embarrassed when Sakura mentioned her 'Magen: Jubaku Satsu' as random tree, but she agreed with her nevertheless.

Everyone was shocked, even the Hokage, when the genin trio explained Genjutsu Kage Bunshin and how many times they would be dead. They became even more shocked when Naruto admitted that he had information on jounin, and everyone in the room almost fainted when Sasuke challenged him to full out fight.

"He must be insane. Kakashi is the strongest jounin here, along with Gai." someone said.

"I agree, but if they challenge him then they must be pretty confident in themselves."

"Sparrow!" Hokage shouted and everyone looked at him in curiosity. Is he really going to stop Kakashi and his team from fight, using ANBU? Said ANBU thought something similar. "Quickly, buy popcorn and soft drinks for everyone. I assign it as B-ranked mission! If you need help, take any ANBU who is free. Now GO!"

Half of jounin's face faulted and half sweatdropped. ANBU really wanted to face fault as well, but he managed to control his emotions. "Hai, Hokage-sama!" he answered and in a second he was gone via shunshin.

"I feel like it is going to be interesting!" Hokage said. Everyone else in the room couldn't disagree and nodded their heads.

* * *

**-Team 7-**

Kakashi laughed. It was really amusing. Them? Fight in full strength versus him with Sharingan?

"You so funny. I don't even need Sharingan to beat you up now. If you have something more to show then fine, so be it. I won't underestimate you anymore and instead of waiting for an attack from you, which gave you advantage in last skirmish, I'll come for you as well. But don't expect me to come at you in full strength, because then you would be dead in an instant. I promise I won't use a Sharingan, but I won't go easy on you."

"But Kakashi," Naruto said, a bit confused "You said you won't underestimate us and then in a next sentence you still underestimated us. It contradicts each other."

Kakashi sweatdropped. "Anyway, are you ready?"

Naruto, now all playfulness gone from his voice, said "Sasuke, 'duo force'. Sakura, 'hebi'. After the second set, Sakura switch to 'sonata' and Sasuke to 'chakram'."

"Hai, taichou!" both Sakura and Sasuke said in unison, their tone completely serious.

Kakashi raised an eyebrow "_Taichou? And what's 'duo force' or 'sonata'? Some kind of formations?_" he then shook his head in amusement "_I guess some childish games._"

"We're ready." Naruto said and took his stance. His right leg was behind him and a bent, while the left leg was in front of him also slightly bent, but overall straight. His fingers on both hands were held in a fist except for his index and middle fingers, which were held together, straight. These were his offensive fingers.(_A/N: like 'ram' handseal_) His left arm was bent, elbow perpendicular to his chest, his offensive fingers just below right shoulder. His right arm was straight (slightly bent), which he held in front of him in low position. His right hand's palm was just above his left leg's thigh. The stance didn't offer stability, instead it offered a quick execution of any action, either defense, offense or evading. This stance didn't look like much, but it gave the user a great boost to speed (in case he is rushing forwards).

Sasuke took his advanced Uchiha taijutsu stance, while Sakura took basic Uchiha taijutsu stance, but her right arm was close to her kunai holster.

"_Hmm? I don't recognize that taijutsu stance._" Kakashi thought referring to Naruto, "I see you're ready. HAJIME!"

The moment the last syllable left Kakashi's lips, Naruto, in a blink of an eye was already in front of Kakashi, his right arm cocked back and his fingers ready to pierce his gut. Acting on pure instinct, Kakashi brought his hand in front of his gut and blocked the strike with his forearm. The moment Naruto's fingers connected with man's forearm, stinging pain overtook his body. The feeling was like the bones were being shattered. Although the feeling was brief, it sure hurt like hell.

Kakashi ignored the brief pain and let his right fist fly towards Naruto. Naruto saw it coming and he merely tilted the head to the left, feeling the air from the punch caressing his hair. Then, in a blink of an eye, he hit and held Kakashi's elbow with back of his palm to disable the man from counterattacking with his right arm, and sent his two left arm's fingers towards man's right temple. Already knowing the consequence of his hits, Kakashi tilted his head back, letting Naruto's attack fly past his face.

Not allowing Kakashi to recover after failed attack, Naruto slid his right arm along Kakashi's right (the one which he held from counter attacking) and tried to face palm him. Kakashi saw it and blocked the strike by spinning around and blocking it with his left forearm, before kicking him. Just as kick was halfway to Naruto's head, said blonde managed to evade it by sidestepping, coming closer to Kakashi's left side. Because Kakashi's leg was still stretched out in its momentum, it gave Naruto the opening. Naruto didn't strike him, because the man would obviously block it with one of his free arm. Instead he jumped, grabbed him by shoulder and vaulted over him, landing behind Kakashi.

Kakashi was confused why Naruto didn't hit him and he spun around on his heels to face Naruto, obviously forgetting about his other two teammates. Just as he did 180 degrees spin, his shinobi senses kicked in, forcing him to back flip. In a corner of his eye he saw how a single kunai flew past him. Before he could land, though, he was kicked in a back by strong kick from Sasuke. Recovering in midair he gently landed on ground, some distance away from 'genins'.

"_What the FUCK? Naruto's speed is abnormal, almost as high as mine, Sasuke's kicks are not as strong as Gai's but still pretty strong. I don't even know what Sakura is capable of. These are not genins._"

His thoughts were cut short, because Naruto was already in front of him and Sasuke following him on hot heels. Kakashi was about to block and immediately counter attack, if not for Naruto's another confusing action. Instead of using his momentum for attacking, Naruto crouched. He didn't underestimate them anymore so he was on full defensive for now, awaiting an attack. And it came. Sasuke, who was just behind Naruto stepped on Naruto's back and jumped, using Naruto as a platform. It wasn't high jump, but enough to perform dropping axe kick. Kakashi also saw how Naruto, from his crouching position, shot towards him, his fingers ready to strike. Seeing where this is going, Kakashi put up his right arm and blocked Sasuke's kick with his forearm while at the same time he redirected Naruto's attack past him with his left arm.

Sasuke, his leg still on Kakashi's forearm, twisted his body and delivered a heavy kick with his left leg to Kakashi's head. Seeing how he couldn't block or evade him, he took the hit... only to Kawarimi behind them, ready to strike. But before he could even close the distance, his shinobi senses kicked in once again and he rolled to his left. As he rolled he saw how a bullet of water flew past. It looks like Sakura performed simple **Suiton: Water Bullet**.

"_Their teamwork is amazing. While Sasuke and Naruto combines their taijutsu to make unpredictable moves, Sakura assists them by throwing kunai or jutsu. So, Sakura's main role is to keep me close to them while not allowing to strike back from blind spots. What if I'll target Sakura?_" Kakashi analyzed the situation in 1 seconds and dashed towards the girl.

Despite the fact that Kakashi is dashing towards Sakura, the girl remained calm and started to do a chain of handseals. Just as he was about to reach her he heard Sasuke cry out

"**Katon: Hōsenka no Jutsu!**"

Kakashi abandoned the idea of chasing Sakura as he now was weaving and evading the bullets of fire which came from Sasuke. The last fire bullet flew past him and he dashed at Sakura once again, intended to make a hostage so the fight would end.

He was about to grab her head when he heard Sakura calmly say

"**Magen: Trinity Force!**"

And with that she dissolved into cherry blossom leaves, which in turn dissolved into pink smoke which was carried away with imaginary breeze.

The same second the first leaf appeared, Kakashi understood he was under a genjutsu so he dispelled it. In a corner of his eye he saw Sakura ready to pierce him with a kunai. He spun around on his heels, ducked under the stab and uppercutted her in a jaw. Sakura once again dissolved into leafs.

"_Double layered!_" Kakashi realized and before he dispelled the genjutsu, he leaped high into the air using chakra, in case something was coming at him. In midair he quickly dispelled the genjutsu only to large thorns rise from the ground and shot towards him. "_Another genjutsu? TRIPLE LAYERED?..the fuck?_" he shouted in his mind and performed another 'KAI!', but this time it didn't work. "It's more powerful one!" he realized and used twice more chakra than before to dispel the genjutsu, this time successful.

He landed on the ground and saw Sakura and Naruto perform some handseals, while Sasuke already finished his before he shouted

"**Raiton: Lightning Arc!**" he then extended his right arm forward, as if throwing a shuriken and a lightning bolt came from his fingertips but instead of going straight for Kakashi, it made an arc which flew just in front of Naruto and Sakura as if defending them from direct assault before going on Kakashi.

In a second Kakashi did a series of handseals and threw his own fingertips in front and cried out: "**Fuuton: Kaze no Yaiba!**"

An invisible blade wind, visible only by gust of wind which accompanied it, sliced through the lightning, dividing it in two different arcs which flew past Kakashi, exploding behind him in two places. The wind blade kept going to Sasuke who in turn did a quick, medium sized **Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu**. Fire overpowered wind and slightly larger fireball now flew towards Kakashi who dodged it by jumping over it.

As he landed, Naruto and Sakura finished their last handseals and in unison told the world the name of their correlation jutsu:

"**Moonlight Sonata!**"

Suddenly, the whole scenery changed. The river nearby turned to endless sea or ocean, trees's leafs became more thicker and turned to cherry blossom leaves, a breeze picking them up and swirling in the air making beautiful scenery. The bright blue sky turned to dark one, the one belonging to the nigh, and the sun changed to the _huge_ full moon.

There, on the sea Sakura and Naruto stood. The moment Kakashi glanced at them, Sakura disappeared in swirl of leaves which were taken by the breeze and joined the cherry blossoms in the air, swirling around in random directions.

At the same time from Naruto's seal on his right arm, a red leafs spilled out like a fountain of water. In less than a second these leafs morphed into a sword which Naruto gently took. (Actually, Naruto just summoned the sword from his storage seal on his arm; all the fluffy stuff was made by the jutsu). The sword itself was beautiful.

It was a mix of rapier and a sword. It had silver pommel, followed by silver cloth which was wrapped around the handle. The knuckle guard was also made from silver and came over quillon in a graceful arc. Guard ended up with some kind of wing shape and rear and front quillon were also in wing like shape. The blade was purely crimson and it was 4 feet and 5 inches long, double sided. It was wide enough to make fast thrusting attacks and wide enough to make powerful slash attacks. (_A/N; I'm sure if I described it good enough. Type in google image search 'Genesis's sword'_). The sword was quite long for Naruto and offered a great reach.

Everything happened in less than 2 seconds.

Naruto leap up in the the dark night sky, the giant moon behind him and leaving along the way a trail of cherry blossom leaves. Kakashi was about to dispel the genjutsu but Naruto didn't give him any time as he came down with his sword in wide downward slash, pink cherry blossom leaving a trail from Naruto's back and sword's blade. As Naruto was quickly approaching, Kakashi took out a kunai and blocked the slash.

A 'cling!' sound could be heard, but it didn't stop Kakashi from receiving a slash across his back. Ignoring the pain, Kakashi jumped to the side just in time to avoid another slash from the Naruto he saw in the beginning. As 'Naruto's' sword touched the ground, the whole clone, IF it was a clone, disappeared in a cherry blossoms which joined other leaves in the air in their dance under the moonlight.

Kakashi quickly tried to dispel the genjutsu by using a bit more chakra than last time, but to no avail. Before he could try another time, he sensed another presence behind him.

He spun on he heels just in time to parry Naruto's thrust, but once again he received a slash on his calf. Just as the pain sensation started, the Naruto in front of him dissipated in cherry blossoms. He turned around and saw no one there. He also couldn't sense nor Sakura nor Sasuke.

"_What the HELL is this jutsu?_" he thought as he tried to dispel the genjutsu using enough chakra to make a big fireball. The scenery slightly wavered, but still remained. "_How strong is this thing. This technique should take enormous amount of chakra to make!_"

Thanks for not underestimating them, his senses was on high alert which now said to him that danger is approaching from his left. He jumped forward only to receive a slight burn on his right foot. He didn't even sense the heat of a fireball until it touched him, but he still couldn't see it. He threw a bunch of shurikens to location where he thought fireball was coming from.

Sasuke, who cast the fireball, easily dodged and blocked all the kunai, although they were quite precise.

Before Kakashi could take any more action, Naruto appeared once more, from thin air in a swirl of pink leaves. Naruto did a downward slash, which Kakashi dodged this time, following with a side slash. One eyed man jumped over the slash and pierced 'Naruto' in the shoulder already knowing it wasn't the real one. It was true, it wasn't the real one as his kunai slid through 'Naruto' like hot steel through butter. 'Naruto' then dissolved into pink leaves.

Expecting attack from behind, the moment Kakashi landed he took another chakra enchanced jump while backflipping backwards and throwing the kunai where he thought real Naruto's back will be. Kunai just merely hit the ground. When Kakashi landed he immediately received a gash from the sword across his chest. He winced in pain but nevertheless took out a kunai and threw forward.

A 'cling!' sound could be heard when sword deflects a projectile. Grinning under his mask, Kakashi performed a quick set of handseals in a blink of an eye and shouted out "**Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu!**" and spilled a medium sized fireball just where he heard the metal voice. The fireball flew and exploded as if connecting with some sort of wall. While the fireball was flying, he didn't waste any second and performed another dispelling technique, now using chakra equal a bit less than for his Chidori. The genjutsu heavily wavered and he could briefly see a shadow of all three of them - Sasuke standing near Sakura, ready to protect her, Sakura holding a 'Ram' handseal and concentrating, while Naruto did something. He also saw how something was receding back into the earth. He couldn't see what Naruto was doing because genjutsu was back in its place.

"_Someone of them have used **Doton: Doryūheki** to block the fireball!_" Kakashi thought. "_Damn this thing is so strong! What kind of chakra is needed to sustain this genjutsu. Kurenai-san will be envious!_"

And then he felt it. A slight spike in chakra in front of him. He looked up and saw Naruto already in the air his sword ready for downward slash. He also noticed how all cherry blossom leafs were building up behind Naruto.

_"I think that's the real Naruto it's the end of technique. It should be something grand if my senses don't lie to me. Shit! I don't have time dispel the genjutsu, because half of the technique is real!_" Kakashi thought in a hurry.

And he was right. The moment Kakashi finished his 3rd sentence, which consisted of swear word, Naruto shouted out "**Judgment of Cherry Blossom Fox!**" and swung his blade downwards as if trying to slice someone in half. As blade got lower and lower, a large blue beam escaped the sword's arc which in a second reformed to large, blue fox's head and flew towards Kakashi in astonishing speeds. Following the head was the rest of fox's body which was entirely made from from sakura leaves.

"_Fuck!_" Kakashi swear and used chakra to do a bunch of backflips, just in time to avoid being impacted by a giant head. The head of a fox impacted with the ground where he was standing and exploded in a fire. But instead of debris, the cherry blossom leaves were whirling around until they settled down, dispelling the genjutsu.

Kakashi looked at the point of explosion and widened his eyes. It was real after all and it made a large crater there. Also, some dust was still in the air and debris scattered around. Furthermore he noticed a bunch of sakura leafs scattered around.

"_Why are those laves still here if genjutsu dispelled?_" he asked himself. He then looked at his supposed 'genin' while panting and restoring his energy. Sakura was slightly panting, otherwise she was okay. Both guys looked to be in good condition. "_So Sakura was sustaining the genjutsu. Sustaining genjutsu, huh? It's the first time I experience one and it was terrifying to say the least. But the chakra control required should be near medic-nin and amount of constantly channeled chakra would be enormous. I can't believe Sakura did it by herself._" he then remembered something. "_Of course! Both Sakura and Naruto did the same handseals before the jutsu. I suppose it was the strongest correlation jutsu of both Sakura and Naruto. Their teamwork is just... awesome. Each cover each's blind spot and attacks when is the chance. Sakura successfully distracts me, leads me to boys and at the same time defends them. I didn't even have time to land a successful hit! Furthermore, I can bet it's not ALL their skills. Using only their teamwork they made and exploited an openings without revealing much of their skills. There's still so much combinations they can use. I didn't even see what Sakura and Sasuke together can do!"_ he thought, clearly awed by his genin. Also, he used a lot of chakra just for trying to dispel the genjutsu multiple times. He concluded that together they are force to be reckoned with.

"Wow. I'm clearly impressed. No... I'm awed! How did you became so strong? That jutsu at the end was... beautiful yet deadly. These gashes from your sword, Naruto, just proves it. Each gash means one my death. You will have to explain me how it works. Kurenai-san will be envious once she heards about your jutsu, Sakura. And good job protecting them while they perform the jutsu, Sasuke. And Naruto, your speed is unreal for a genin. All three of you are unreal."

And all three of them grinned.

"Thanks, Kakashi-sensei." Sakura said, already regained some of her strength "But you didn't saw out full strength yet. We won thanks for our teamwork and because you were man with honor and didn't use Sharingan as promised. But even if you would use it, we would win."

Kakashi raised an eyebrow for countless time today "Hmm? And why's that?"

Naruto smirked. "Guys, he is our squad leader so we can show him what we mean by 'full strength'."

"Just a squad leader?" Kakashi said a bit sad "But I'm your sensei... Only Sakura-chan acknowledges me." he muttered. Sakura smiled to be on Kakashi's good side. "Anyway, no more fighting. You already proved you're at least mid to high chuunin. Plus, I wasted too much chakra from trying to break out from that genjutsu."

"Chuunin? Hn. Me and Naruto are much stronger than high chuunin by ourselves and Sakura is about on same level as high chuunin - low jounin." Sasuke stated.

"Yeah. Besides, we're not attacking you, just showing what we mean." Naruto said.

Kakashi didn't quite believe them in being on jounin level, but he wasn't sure now. Everything may happen. "Okay, show me."

"Hn. I would love to see his expression." Sasuke said and closed his eyes. He slowly opened them and said "**Sharingan!**" Well, he didn't need to say it out loud, but it sounded epic (in his opinion). His red eyes revealed three tomoe in each eye around the pupil.

Kakashi's eye widened. "_Im-Impossible! Already at maximum level!_"

Sakura took out her special dirk, which she didn't touch the entire time. She channeled some chakra into it and the seals on the knife started to glow blue. She then stabbed the knife in her left palm (which received even more widened eye and shocking expression from Kakashi). Sakura didn't even wince from pain. A trickle of blood dripped down, but before it reached the ground, Sakura did three one handed handseals, stopped on 'Ram' seal and cried out "**Chishioton!**" (_A/N: I suppose it's translation for Blood Release_)

The trickle of blood stopped and all the drops now floated in mid air. All the blood which came from Sakura's palm moved together and made 4 floating orbs of blood which expanded to the size of small volleyball. Sakura took out the knife from her palm and the cut immediately healed. The orbs now hung in the air, just behind Sakura.

Kakashi's visible eye widened even further (and he wasn't the only one.) "_Blood release? What the fuck? What else is in store? Mythical Rinnegan?_"

Oh how ironic.

Naruto, just like Sasuke, closed his eyes and then slowly opened them. As his eyes were halfway open, he let out a large gravity push towards Kakashi to emphasize the main power of his eyes. Kakashi couldn't resist the push so he slid a small distance away from Naruto. The blonde finally snapped his eyes open and said in serious, yet powerful voice "**Holy Rinnegan!**"

Kakashi barely stopped himself from fainting. Keyword: barely.

* * *

**END!**

**Wooh. It was really hard to write the fighting scenes. They're not that epic, but I'll try harder next time.**

**IMPORTANT! They may sound overpowered because they defeated Kakashi without his Sharingan with, what may be seen, as cheap tricks. But if cheap trick can lead to victory why not use it? Furthermore, they won because of they brilliant teamwork. If Kakashi would use Sharingan, which blocks most low - mid maybe even some high genjutsu, it would be a bit more difficult fight and they would have to reveal more of their skills. If it would be 1 on 1 versus Kakashi, they would really need a good plan to win, because all of them are weaker than Kakashi in some ways, mainly in experience. Also, I think that's how great teamwork should be.**

**If anyone wants omake on how Naruto trained (like how he discovered some abilities, or like how Sakura did hers training, or the battle between army of clones and trio, etc etc.) then just say (vote) which ones you would like to see.**

**Thanks for reading and I hope I somehow impressed you. :)**

**I know all that genjutsu chakra thing might be confusing so feel free to ask and I'll try to explain in my best ability.**

**Ja ne!**


	6. Chapter 6 The Mission

**Finally I finished the chapter. And I still don't have a beta as I'm waiting for an answer. As for why am I late... well, I'm not giving any excuses because they just sounds pathetic and most people don't care anyway. They're just happy a new chapter is up.**

**Thanks for all the reviews! It really inspires me to keep writing! To answer them:**

**SilverIcy: Hah. Laughed at that one. Included that line in my story and thanks.**

**Mad Bobert: no one's stopping you from reading, you know. Thanks though :)**

**Krsnik02: I too hate intervention of gods. I mean, it's okay for me if they appear once or twice in the story to give some powers or something, but if they keep appearing throughout the story it's a no-no for me, so don't worry about another intervention. Although there is going to be one at the end... **

**I know that idea of Naruto being descendant of Rikuddo is quite popular ( as is the Kami's intervention) so I went with what I like better.I also used info from Narutopedia and tried to create something original. Quote from Narutopedia _'It was said that in times when the world is in disorder, a person is sent down from the heavens to become either a "God of Creation" who will calm the world, or a "Destroyer" who will reduce everything to nothingness.' _I used and explored this legend to make something original. So basically, Naruto's a protagonist while Pain is antagonist (there's gonna be a huge twist to it though). As for the thingy about only one person can awaken(get) the rinnegan - it doesn't matter because in my story only Naruto and Pain (Nagato) will have the rinnegan. It is considered to be a legend after all. **

**So in my story it goes like this (very briefly) - kami sees the world is in time of disorder so she chooses a pure soul to guide it to peace. That's how Nagato got his eyes. Nagato then goes through pain, feels the loss of his loved ones (the war) so he becomes as we know him now and changes the Akatsuki to evil organisation. Obito is still saved by Madara, but there's a huge twist in it so I gonna skip this part. The Kami sees that she made a mistake so she tried to find a way to fix it, to take the eyes away, but she coudn't for reasons which are too complex and long to explain. So she did the best thing she could (in her opinion) - she balanced out the rinnegan of destroyer by rinnegan of the savior. She was observing Naruto for some time and chose him. She obviously knew what's sealed inside him, but despite that Kami saw strong and blinding spirit and will. She also saw that despite all the treatment Naruto got from the village, he still didn't have a tint of hatred, where most people would already gone mad. So she tried her luck once again and gave Naruto the rinnegan. **

**That was brief origins of my story and I didn't even want to write that xD My fingers just kept moving. As for the error you pointed out about sealing. Yes, sorry. When I was writing that part I was referring the event as whole so I messed up a bit. But you're right, it was Mito who sealed Kyuubi.**

**XT3: I guess I can reveal some things. Yes it is Sakura and Sasuke (I think I made it a bit obvious, didn't I?). As for Naruto... that is a secret for me to write and you to find out. Thanks!**

**Rasnegan89: Thanks!**

**Gaaraxx33: I too think it gets better as I write more chapters. The thing is that I really rushed the first chapters so they are not as good written as new ones. And thanks for the beta suggestion, but he doesn't have a beta page so I won't ask him.**

**Dragonskyt: Yeah. It's sometimes sad when genjutsu is overlooked because they have so much potential. The only limit is your imagination. I was kinda worried about the description, so thanks!**

**Darkryus: Just so you would know, Sakura has water affinity, Naruto has all five + gravity, Sasuke has fire and lightning. So yeah, they will have epic combos. **

**NarutoInoU: Thanks a lot! It's nice to know that I'm doing good so far by trying to combine humor and seriousness. I gonna add some emotional theme later on as well so it would fit in like in actual canon.**

**Lavaflow900: Thanks. I know I have punctuation and grammar issues (they're not that bad, though. imo). While I agree there's a lot of ideas explored and written about, I'll try to make this one as original as possible. I already have some unbelievable twists and cliffchangers in mind. And I never sacrifice quality for a speed. That's exactly one of the reasons I don't update so often - Firstly I try to make an interesting chapter ending so when I think it's not good in my opinion, I expand the chapter or edit something (which takes time). Secondly, when I finally finish the chapter I reread it one or two times and fix any spelling or grammar issues which I can find by myself, so obviously it takes a lot of time to update. Sorry for that.**

**stormwolf3710: Originally this story was meant to be with Sasuke being a total moron, but then I was like 'Hey, but I've never seen a fic with epic team 7 fights'. I mean, maybe there are some, but they are rare. Most people hate Sasuke unless it's yaoi...**

**xxOMGgalxx: *thumbs up* That's exactly what I thought after rereading the chapter.**

**On with the chapter then! **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Narutoverse.**

* * *

** Chapter 9**

**The Mission**

**-With Hokage & Co.-**

"How many casualties?" Hokage asked the medic nin, who came here some minutes ago.

"13 shinobi hospitalized and 4 had minor injuries in their throats which were easily healed. Overall nothing major and hospitalized shinobi will be released tomorrow when we will remove all the pieces from their throats."

"I see." Hokage replied "Dismissed. Make sure they're fine tomorrow."

"Hai, Hokage-sama!" medic-nin replied and left the council room.

_"Naruto... why are you the cause of all the trouble?"_ Hokage thought as he remembered what happened some minutes ago.

**-Some minutes ago (a.k.a. flashback)-**

In a council room, everyone were awed and surprised the teamwork Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke displayed as well as how easily they defeated Kakashi without his Sharingan, while at the same time not revealing much of their abilities. They couldn't see the 'Moonlight Sonata' genjutsu, but they measured its strength and said it has to be quite powerful, seeing how Kakashi tried to dispel it several times.

After the fight they were even more confused what did the trio mean by their 'true strength'. And then it happened.

**"Sharingan!"** Everyone widened their eyes, because he already awakened it and it already was at its maximum level.

**"Chishioton!"** Everyone widened their eyes even further and gasped. They were so wide that eyes could fall out of their sockets. Some even started to cough because they gasped with mouth full of popcorn. They knew Sakura was civilian (they didn't knew about her father), so it was very, VERY surprising. Add to that the unknown bloodline and from surprising it comes to shocking.

**"Holy Rinnegan!"** Several nin with weak nerves fainted. It was too much for them. Most of them widened their eyes to unbelievable wideness. Some even started to cough; cough really bad because when they saw Naruto's eyes, they gasped so hard that popcorn from their mouths was sucked in by the air and stuck in their throats. They tried to cough them out, but to no avail. This dojutsu was supposed to be only a legend. Read: supposed to.

*cough* *cough*

*cough* *cough* *cough*

*cough*

*cough*

Coughing was heard from different parts of the room. Someone shouted "Hokage-sama! We need medics! They can't cough out the popcorn!"

Hokage sighed, rubbed his temples and summoned the ANBU.

_"I knew I shouldn't assign 'the popcorn mission'. I just knew something like this might happen." _he thought.

**-Flashback end-**

"Those who still want to see what happens next can stay. Those who think they've seen enough can leave. I just hope they won't do anything THAT shocking again." Hokage said. Although he knew about Naruto's Rinnegan, he didn't know about the Uchiha and Haruno kids. Especially about the Sakura, because she was supposed to be from civilian family. Well, she wasn't completely civilian, but her only relative who was still alive was civilian. _"I'll have to ask why he calls it 'Holy' instead of just Rinnegan. Although I remember he said his Rinnegan is a bit different than the original."_

Indeed, some left the room but most shinobi stayed. Never in their life they would miss something like that. Who thought village's pariah would have the strongest of all dojutsu.

For the next week, or even month... screw that, for years to come team 7's ascendance to such power would be the most discussed topic. Especially Naruto and Sakura with their unknown abilities and their teamwork. Even now some started to discuss them. Some even said that the legendary Sannin didn't have such teamwork at their youth.

* * *

**-Back to epic team 7-**

Kakashi closed his eyes and tried to calm his nerves. _"Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale. Calm down. Be professional. Maybe it is yet another genjutsu."_ he thought as he inhaled and exhaled and opened his eyes just to try to dispel a 'genjutsu'. It didn't work so he widened his eyes again and quickly closed. _"Damn! Okay. Be. Professional."_

_**"Oh man, that was hilarious! Poor Kakashi almost fainted due exposure to a sheer power of his little and cute genins!"**_ Kyuubi laughed inside Naruto's head making Naruto to snicker a bit himself _**"Next time you should make some explosions or earthquakes around you. It would be so epic that your opponents would faint right on the spot!" **(A/N: Thanks SilverIcy for that line!)_

_"I'll think about that." _

Kakashi finally opened his eyes he stared at the floating orbs of blood, three tomoe sharingan and Rinnegan with two white slits around pupil.

"Okay-y..." Kakashi started.

All three genins snickered.

"What's the matter Kakashi?" Sasuke asked "Still so confident that we couldn't beat you?"

"Actually I now have doubts I could come out victorious." Kakashi answered. And it was true, he had doubts indeed. Even if he would use his sharingan, they could easily beat him if they team up: he saw only a small glimpse of their abilities and who knows what else they can do with their bloodlines; even if he would go full strength on them so would they and it would be hard to exploit any opening, because someone would always defend the other.

"I know about Sharingan." the man started "But I do not know about that Rinnegan of yours ,Naruto, and the Chishioton, Sakura."

"Right. We'll demonstrate some abilities and give you a brief explanation." Naruto said.

Sasuke deactivated his Sharingan and muttered "Lucky bastards. Now they can show off and I have to sit and watch."

Everyone still heard him. Sakura felt a little bad for him, but there was nothing she could do about it.

"Don't worry about that, Sasuke. I will spar with you in one of our training sessions to see how well can you use your Sharingan." Kakashi said and then turned around to face everyone "Actually, all you will get a spar. I know your teamwork is magnificent but I want to see what you can do on your own."

"Thanks Kakashi-sensei!" Sakura said and the man did an eye smile. "I will go first with explanation. So basically, my Chishioton is combination of suiton with my chakra. What I mean is that blood is already in liquid state so I just add chakra to manipulate it as I want." Kakashi was about to ask a question, but he was interrupted "You may say that then everyone with suiton affinity and good chakra control could do it, but that's not true. If you fill your blood with chakra, nothing happens. The chakra just go through the blood like it wasn't even there. That's exactly where my bloodline comes in - once I filled the blood with my chakra, it stays there and helps me manipulate the blood to make it bend or to make it hard as steel.

These orbs above me are the start of my techniques. The more orbs I make, the more chakra I use to make them. The more orbs I have made, the harder is to control them. As you may already notice, for my Chishioton I use one handed handseals, which is quite rare. I can use up to two different techniques at the same time. Here, let me show you." Sakura said.

Sakura then did a series of one handed handseals on both arms before shouting out

"**Chishioton: Spike rush/Wisps of Binding!** "

Two orbs morphed into 1.5 m long and 15 cm thick spikes which then shot forward at tremendous speed and pierced two nearby trees going half way in. The third orb transformed into thin, 3 m long wisp, which was circling above Sakura's head until she took out a kunai and threw it high in to the air. The wisp then immediately shot towards kunai and grabbed it, after which the wisp threw kunai at nearby tree, piercing it a bit. The wisp then grabbed nearby tree branch and broke it by pulling it. Then the wisp transformed back to the orb.

Kakashi was quite impressed with the techniques. The possibilities were endless. He was also quite surprised that she did both jutsu at the same time using only one handed seals. She could do a combination of jutsu and various combos.

"As you can see, Kakashi-sensei, Spike rush has the form of strong steel, while Wisps of Binding has the form of strong rope, which can move and bend freely. Spike rush is also a set-up for my other attacks. Look." Sakura said and pointed at the place where she pierced of one of the trees. Surprisingly, there was no spike sticking out of the tree, just a puddle of blood under it.

"If an enemy evaded an attack, he might think I can't control the blood anymore. Fortunately for me, he is wrong. I can control the blood at very wide area and it doesn't need a recharge of my chakra. It kind of produces it for itself. So, when the spike missed the target I can transform from steel form to liquid form and make a puddle. Then I can use this puddle to make long range attacks for unsuspecting enemy or to make traps from them. For example."

Sakura did some handseals with both hands and when she finished she shouted "**Chishioton: Crimson Bullets!**" One of the puddles, which was closer to Sakura, started to shoot numerous red bullets into another tree. It continued for 2 seconds, slowly depleting the puddle until it was gone. The only thing what was left was small holes in a suffered tree.

Sakura then did another set of handseals and said "**Chishioton: Underworld Binding**!" The only one puddle which was left, let out 5 or 6 wisps from it and ensnared the tree by wrapping around it. Small cracks seemed to appear where the wisps were holding showing that these wisps had a death grasp. The wisps then retracted back to puddle which in turn morphed into a ball and flew back where it was at the beginning - above Sakura's head.

"And that's about it. Any questions?" She asked.

"Wow. The bloodline clearly shows some potential. Looks like it's more suited for sneaky attacks than in direct assault. Is it not painful to get the blood? Or you can use other's blood as well? Also, I saw how some drops transformed into a ball. Does your blood uses chakra, which you fill them with, to expand and retract?" Kakashi asked.

Sakura rubbed the back of her head in embarrassment. SHE had FORGOT to explain something. What a nerve...

"Forgot to explain that. It isn't painful if I use a special knife." she then showed it "I channel some chakra in it so the seal would glow and then stab my palm. The process, somehow, is totally unharmful. Once I get enough blood and transform them into orbs, I take out the dirk. The moment I take out the dirk, the wound heals and the blood replenishes. I don't know how the seals does it. Even Naruto can't sort it out. And yes, orb shrinks or expands proportionally to chakra filled in them. Unfortunately, the healing work only on me, so it's not some kind of healing seal. Already tried on Naruto (poor Naruto - exposed to Sakura's evil experiments). Furthermore, my bloodline makes me quite resistant to blood-loss. So if someone wants to kill me, it has to be a death blow. It was another my experiment and I got a little headache after losing a lot of blood." she finished all the while demonstrating what she is saying. Well, except proving the blood-loss resistance.

Everyone sweatdropped at her last sentence. Naruto, on the other hand, thought something of lines like "Damn her experiments" and "evil experimenter".

"I see. Quite a bloodline you have there. And if I might add, it's somehow creepy. What are the drawbacks?"

"I'm not revealing that. Gotta keep some shinobi secrets, right? Especially if it concerns my bloodline." Sakura replied with a sweet smile.

"Fair enough. You're next, Naruto." Kakashi said.

"Finally!" Naruto replied and walked to a spot where Sakura was standing. Sakura, walked down and sat next to Sasuke who was quietly observing the scene in front of him.

Kakashi nodded indicating that Naruto may start.

"Okay. My dojutsu has several abilities. I will not explain all of them, just the main ones I use most often." Kakashi nodded in understanding. No ninja would like to tell someone all of his secrets. "When activated, I can see chakra outside of the human's body. Also, it allows me to zoom in my sight, which works like a telescope. It is not very far like Byakugan, yet useful. My left eye has another ability which I call 'Photography'. It allows me to 'photograph' anything I see and store it in some kind of library in my head which I can access at any time. In other words, once I photograph something, it stays in my memory forever. It is great to remember places, or maps or any serious documents which have to be destroyed. It is also great with seals. I won't go further on why it is good with seals because it's too complicated to explain. Anyway, there's a limited amount of times I can use this ability in one day, which is now 5 times."

Kakashi nodded in understanding. This ability would be great in sneak missions where you have to get information from documents. But he was curious what happens if Naruto uses the ability more than 5 times, so he asked it.

"Well, it gives me a real headache and that's all. Nothing is remembered. Anyhow, on to the next ability. The Rinnegan consists of 6 paths and each path has its own ability set. I will explain you two of my paths. The first one is Deva path which allows me to manipulate gravity. Watch and learn." Naruto snickered at his last phrase. So bad-ass. Although he copied it from Sasuke, he still liked it. Sasuke rolled his eyes at Naruto's last phrase.

He then faced a nearby tree and raised his left hand while saying "**Bansho Ten'in!**" Suddenly, the large tree was torn out from the roots and flew towards Naruto. Kakashi's one visible eye widened at sheer display of power. Just how strong the attraction power has to be to rip a tree this large from its roots? The tree was flying towards Naruto at fast speed and if the boy wouldn't do anything soon, it will hit him. Kakashi was bout to 'save' Naruto until he save his expression. Naruto was... waiting for something?

And it was true. Naruto was waiting. He was waiting when the tree would come close enough so his display of repulsion power would be bad-ass. When the tree was just 1 m away from Naruto, the boy quickly raised his other hand and shouted out "**Shinra Tensei!**"

The tree the exploded in various pieces of trunk and flew in the opposite direction form Naruto. Kakashi's eye widened even more.

"As you can see, it was power of attraction and repulsion. Power of my Deva path. It was quite strong and required a decent amount of chakra because I managed to rip the tree from roots and the torn it in pieces with just gravity power. But mind you, it wasn't even in full power. I have 3 jutsu in this path and you've seen only two. I know there's more but I still haven't found out what are they."

"Show off." Sasuke muttered and Sakura agreed with him by nodding her head.

"Wow. I've never seen the power of gravity before... it's terrifying to say the least. What is the third one?"

"That one," Naruto smiled as he paused to add dramatic moment " is a secret."

Kakashi wanted to face fault but he managed to resist the urge. Naruto's other teammates sweatdropped.

"Anyway, the second path is called Asura path. At least it was in an original Rinnegan. From what I know (read: from what Kyuubi told me), Asura path's ability was to transform user's limbs to mechanical parts and use them as weapons."

"I can't imagine how that works." Kakashi commented.

"Same here." Sakura added her own thought.

"Right. Anyway, fortunately I never had the chance to find out how that works, because I have totally different ability in my Asura path. I renamed it to 'Hunter path'. It allows me to mark various places." Naruto explained.

"Mark? You mean like Inuzukas does that with their nin-hounds?" Kakashi asked.

"That's exactly what I asked him." Sasuke said.

"No. I mean, yes, but still, no." Naruto said.

Now Kakashi was really confused.

"Let me explain. By channeling chakra through my eyes and concentrating on a spot, I create a seal on the surface which says 'Mark' and stays there. The moment this mark appears, I know exact distance between me and the mark, even if my back is turned to mark. For example if I mark both your fists and elbows, I can block and dodge your hits with my eyes closed or when my back is turned to you. Furthermore, I can exploit these marks by using ninjutsu and mentally 'commanding' it to follow the marks. In other words, I can cast a jutsu and make it follow the mark until it hits it. I know there are ninjutsu which you can make to follow the opponent, but those type of ninjutsu needs continuous sustaining of chakra as well as concentration. The good part of my marking is that once I give the command, I don't need to concentrate on that or even sustain it - the jutsu won't stop until it hits the mark or until I dispel it. But the bad part is that once the jutsu hits its mark, the mark disappears and I have to reapply it. It's not a big deal though."

"Wow. That's quite an ability there. Quite powerful and gives you an advantage in battle. Kind of reminds me the Byakugan. I suppose there's a limit on how many of those marks you can place, right?" Kakashi asked.

"Yeah, there is a limit how many marks I can use at once. Originally, it was an ability of my right eye, but I developed it so I can now use it with my both eyes. The maximum amount of marks I can use with my right eye is 6 and with left 4, meaning 10 marks altogether. I don't know what's the total maximum though."

"I see. Well you can find out that with enough training, right?"

"Hell yeah!" Naruto shouted, full of enthusiasm.

Kakashi sweatdropped. "Right. Care to give a demonstration?" after receiving a nod, Kakashi created a Kage Bunshin so he could see if the jutsu would indeed follow and if Naruto could indeed see or know the distance between marks.

Naruto's slits in both eyes started to spin wildly and in less than 2 seconds he managed to place 10 marks on Kakashi's body - on on each hand, each elbow, each foot, each knee, head and chest where the heart supposed to be. In his training he was focusing on speed at which the marks applies instead of numbers. When finished, Naruto nodded, indicating he was ready, and closed his eyes. In less than a second he felt the clone's right fist coming at his face, which Naruto blocked by his forearm. He then felt Kakashi's knee coming at his gut, which Naruto sidestepped. In a second the clone was behind him and send his foot towards Naruto's head, which the boy evaded by tilting his head to the left. 'Kakashi' immediately followed by elbowing him and sweep kicking him, which was sidestepped and jumped over with. Just as Naruto landed, 'Kakashi' stopped his assault and Naruto opened the eyes.

"Impressive. Now show those jutsu."

Naruto nodded and did two handseals and shouted out "**Fuuton: Razor Fox Rush!**" while thinking '_Seek and destroy!_'

Immediately 10 small, in a size of man's fist, transparent fox heads appeared around Naruto, which then rushed towards the clone in tremendous speeds. Original Kakashi's eye widened.

"_Just two handseals for such technique. And why it's always foxes?_"

The clone started to do bakclfips, rolls and jumps to evade and dodge incoming fuuton missiles. After 5 seconds, one of the heads finally caught up with 'Kakashi's' right hand. The fox head exploded in small vortex of wind blades which left some deep cuts and many small cuts on clone's hand. Then all the other's found their mark. After 2 seconds the clone had countless cuts and gashes after which he poofed out of existence.

"Indeed impressive. You can easily take on multiple enemies at once using this ability." Kakashi stated.

Naruto nodded "Yeah but it's sometimes confusing, especially if using on multiple enemies. I can see the mark, not the arm or fist itself so it's still easy to bypass the ability using some sneaky tactics. Anyhow, that's everything you're going to see now. Gotta keep those shinobi secrets, right?"

As he finished, he deactivated his Kekkei Genkai. Sakura and Sasuke did the same as they approached the duo.

"Yeah, Kakashi-sensei. Even if we're your students now we can't go around telling everyone about our clan secrets, right? I mean, bloodline secrets and other abilities." Sakura said.

"I'm not 'everyone'. I'm your sensei..." Kakashi muttered under his breath, clearly in depressed tone.

Sasuke snickered at that and decided to add his own voice on the matter "Hn. I agree with Sakura. If the word gets out about our power, me and Naruto will get those stupid fan-girls. In Sakura's case, fan-boys." It was harsh to call fan-girls stupid, but it was true.

"Right. To be honest, I don't really need to know your abilities, seeing you're already quite strong and can handle yourselves in a battle. You also move like trained shinobi. The only thing all of you lack is experience and it can heavily decide the outcome of battle." Kakashi said in his 'lecture' tone. All three of his 'students' nodded their heads in understanding, so Kakashi continued. "You still will come to our training sessions. Also, if you have any other questions regarding training, jutsu or pretty much anything you can ask me. Okay then," Kakashi took out his beloved porn as he started to walk away "Lets meet up here tomorrow at 9 a.m. for our first mission. See ya!" and with that, Kakashi was gone.

"He meant at 12 a.m. right?" Sakura asked as she sighed.

Sasuke nodded. "Maybe we should try kicking this habit of his out?"

Naruto just shrugged, "Guys, we don't have anything to do now, right? Lets grab some Ichiraku?"

Sasuke and Sakura smiled, it was one of those sincere smiles, as they answered at the same time "Sure, dobe./Sure thing."

And with that they left the training grounds all the while discussing today's events.

* * *

**-With Hokage-**

A small chattering could be heard throughout the full council room. Many were impressed by displayed abilities and discussed what else they might be hiding. They were a bit disappointed when Sasuke didn't show off his skills, but Naruto's mysterious '6 paths' were more intriguing. It was the topic of the day as many tried to guess other 4 abilities.

"Mmm, such power, such looks... Gotta get him before any other can laid hands on him." a certain purple haired snake lady commented, referring to Naruto.

Kurenai sighed at her friend's, antics "Anko. He is only, what, 12? 13?"

Anko looked at Kurenai as if she grew another head. "Kure-chan, did you know that once a boy becomes shinobi, he becomes a man. If he is at age to kill, then he is at age to drink and have sex. I've heard he has got quite a stamina..." Anko said dreamily, already imagining her and Naruto in... more intimate positions.

Kurenai could nothing but sigh. Some people never changes. _"Anyway. I'll have to meet this Sakura person. Want to see her genjutsu in action."_ she thought.

In other part of the room a nonstop shouting was heard.

"YOSH! KAKASHI STUDENT'S FLAMES OF YOUTH SHINES EVEN BRIGHTER THAN THE SUN ITSELF! THEY ARE IN THEIR SPRINGTIME OF YOUTH AND I WILL TRY TO MATCH THEIR FLAMES! YOSH! IF I CAN'T DO THAT, I'LL CLIMB THE HOKAGE MONUMENT ON MY ARMS, AND IF I CANNOT DO THAT, I'LL DO 1000 PUSH-UPS WITH A BOULDER ON MY BACK TO MATCH THEIR FLAMES, AND IF I CANNOT..."

"JUST SHUT UP, GAI-SAN!" some random jounin shouted, annoyed by man's so called 'youthful' proclamations and impossible tasks.

Someone rudely interrupted his youthful speech and that was unforgivable! The nerve! Gai gave the man a death glare at which said man flinched. He was about to start another speech on how 'unyouthful' it was to interrupt his 'youthful' speech, but before he could start, another jounin, named Genma, switched the topic.

"I saw how Naruto-san was using some kind of Kenjutsu style which I do no recognize. It would be interesting to ask for a spar to see what he is capable of..." Genma said what seemed like to himself.

Gai, already forgot about 'unyouthful' interrupting of his 'youthful' speech, added his own voice of opinion, though this one was more serious tone "Yes. I would also like to challenge Naruto and Sasuke for a fight. They seemed to be quite capable in taijutsu."

"No one knew about them until they became genin and team 7 is already so popular. I wonder for how many years they've hid their true power." Asuma, the ever smoking jounin, said as he joined the conversation.

"It doesn't matter. They showed exactly what is meant by 'deception is ninja's strongest weapon'." Genma said.

"Looks like team 7 will be quite busy these days." Asuma said.

"Indeed." Gai replied with a smirk. "YOSH! MY ETERNAL RIVAL HAS SUCH YOUTHFUL STUDENTS!"

Obviously, everyone ignored his shouting and continued to chat.

Finally after a minute or two Hokage's voice was heard throughout the entire room, asking for silence. And silence he got.

"Thanks. Just now you saw Naruto's and Sakura's bloodlines, so please don't talk about them in public. You may talk about them in private between yourselves but please don't reveal it to chuunin or other genin."

"But why, Hokage-sama?" some one asked.

"Because they just became a genin and I don't want to put too much pressure on them. If everyone would knew about their bloodlines, they would get too much attention. Just like now when you discussed them. I believe they will reveal everything in chuunin exams which, by the way, is not far from now. You can do whatever you like, but remember, they are genin and they still needs time to train and do missions. Do you understand why I'm asking you to not talk about it in public?"

"Hai, Hokage-sama!" everyone said.

Asuma then asked "Hokage-sama," although Hokage was his son, in public where other jounins were, he reffered to him as everyone else, "If we would tell our gening about team 7's power, it could motivate them to train harder."

Hokage nodded his head in agreement "Yes, while I agree with you, Asuma, there's also this thing as 'fresh out of academy'. They won't believe you unless they would see it by their own eyes so there's no point of telling it to them. Furthermore, they might even talk about it in public and spread rumors that you're showing favoritism towards team 7 instead of your squad. Though you can compare the progress of your team and team 7. Like missions done or something like that."

"Fair enough." Asuma answered fully agreeing. He knew Ino liked to spread rumors. He also knew she liked to make them more scandalous than they actually were.

"This meeting is FINALLY over. Dismissed." Hokage said as he left via shunshin. Most of ninjas followed his example and left the room by shunshin, but some preferred to walk away via door and discuss what have been seen.

* * *

**-Unknown location****-**

Somewhere at the border of Tsuchi no Kuni, in a small village, two figures stood in the shadow of alley between the houses. It was a rainy day so streets were mainly empty. The big bullets of rain were banging against the ground so it was hard to hear or understand what they were talking about. A perfect time when most bandits and criminals would discuss their plans. But these two were no normal bandits. And they were not simple criminals. Oh, no simple criminals indeed.

"So are we agreed?" one them asked, the voice belonging to a man.

"Yes. I'll test it." the other one answered, his voice sounding a bit strange, like some hissing or something, but clearly belonging to a man as well.

"Good. You'll report the results." the first one said, before giving something to the other man. After that he quickly, but slightly, turned his head to the left, where the alley ends and looked at nothing.

Before the first one could say something, the other one did it first "Leader is calling. We should better go... Even I fear that man."

The first man nodded his head and each of them separated, going to different directions, each with their own thoughts.

* * *

There is a village at the border of Taki and Hi no Kuni, which is called the Glass village. Village is quite small, it had only about 50 or so houses, shops not included. The village itself was on a hill and not far from it you could also see and hear a waterfall. Most houses in the village had only one floor but some of them had two or even three, although they were rare. All the houses had big windows and big, yet narrow roof. Around the village there was a wooden wall which looked quite stable and could resist a bandit's, or even ninja's, assault. There was also a river surrounding the village which came from the waterfall and proceeded further into the Taki. At one point, there was a bridge and a gate which lead into the village. They were guarded by two guards. They were not ninjas, but they could handle some bandits. Over all, this village looked like a small fort.

That was also the village where Alicia Tsukiko, our young Valkyrie, lived for past 4 months. The village loved her because of her gentle and caring nature, yet merciless towards anyone who hurt the villagers, which mainly were bandits. She now was taller than 5 years ago and was as tall as Naruto now. Not like she knew who Naruto was anyway. Her hair still reached lower back, but from light blond they changed to snow white. She had her battle dress on, which she wore only when on mission or when accepting new missions, or on important events (_A/N: by battle dress I mean what I described in earlier chapters_) Now she was standing in village elder's office, discussing the latest reports.

The elder, Gaiko, was an old man in his 60. He had short, gray hair, silver earrings in both ears. He wore simple brown civilian trousers which reached his ankles, comfortable black sneakers, he had long-sleeved, brown shirt which went past his waist. He also had black leather belt which looked really expensive. His neck was decorated with beautiful necklace full of birds' feathers in various colors.

"Are they bandits again? Man, they sure are persistent." Alicia said with annoyance. She already dealt with that bandit group. Twice.

Gaiko spoke in loud, demanding respect yet elderly voice "No, you scared the bandits away so they won't be a problem for some time now."

"What is it then?"

"Patience, child." the elder answered with a smile. He knew Alicia didn't like the waiting, so he tried to teach her patience. It was pointless though. "Some of our loggers and scouts said they saw some ninjas passing by in the direction of bandit camp. They knew they're ninjas because they used some ninja techniques. Unfortunately, they didn't recognize from what village they were, but they saw that their hitai-ate had a slash across them indicating they were missing nin. Also, we don't know their intentions."

"Hmm, those are disturbing news. What is needed from me?"

Gaiko sipped some tea which appeared from thin air. Or maybe Alicia just didn't notice he was holding a teapot at all.

"Right. Your task, if you accept, is to investigate the area in the forest and try to find their camp and from which village they are. I want you to report their exact numbers and if you can identify them by bingo book, as well as their intentions." the man said. He was quite informed about ninja business for a civilian, but then again - he was a village elder, a chief, so he had to know such things. "It will help us to organize our defenses in a case of attack. Do not attack them and try not to be found. I know you're capable, but there's a big difference between a bunch of bandits and several unknown ninjas."

Alicia nodded. "Understood. I accept the mission. I shall take my leave then."

"Be safe, Alicia. Without you, our village would be overrun with bandits that night. You have my gratitude."

"Always, Gaiko-sama, always."

And with that she left the room to prepare necessary supplies.

* * *

**-Another unknown location-**

It looked like a cave with lot of rocks of various size in it. There stood 10 shadowy figures. Or should I rather say it was an astral projection of real people? They were the Akatsuki, a small organisation consisting of S-rank missing ninjas of various countries. The meetings were rare and used only astral projection to keep themselves safe. It was also easier because you could attend the meeting at any point of the world. This was one of the meetings to discuss some of their plans.

Only eyes could be seen from the projection and the most noticeable were the ones with ripple patter. It was the Rinnegan. It belonged to leader of organisation, Pain.

"Good. You're all here." He started in a monotone voice "For now we shall lay low and gather money for our further plans. We will start capturing the bijuu after 1 or 2 years. Although if you found a jinchuuriki you may capture him ONLY if you're confident you can do it without any problems and if it would not bring any problems for our organisation. Is that clear?"

"Hai." everyone replied.

"Good. Kakuzu here will take care for the most income seeing how he likes the job of bounty hunter."

"Indeed, Pain-sama. Thank you for the opportunity." said Kakuzu in eerie voice.

Nodding his head, Pain asked "Are there any important reports you may have?"

"If I may." someone asked.

"Go on, Zetsu." the leader said.

Now revealed Zetsu continued "**I have come across the information that there is going to be an assassination attempt at Yondaime Kazekage in some months.** I don't sure if it's true or just rumors though." Zetsu spoke in two voices, which was quite strange and weird.

"Hn. I bet they're just rumors. Who would be foolish enough to assassinate the Kage anyway?" someone asked.

"Deidara, being a Kage means endangering yourself. Many try to assassinate Kages." some else answered. The voice belonged to a male and he was standing next to Deidara. Also, voice sounded stoic and demanded some degree of respect.

"Hmph. Whatever, Haori. As if you know what it means to be a Kage."

"Maybe I don't know how it is to be a Kage, but I do know how it is to be important person." now revealed Haori answered. He had pale, pupil-less eyes.

"Can you shut the hell up already? I want this meeting to be done with so I can go and sacrifice something to Jashin-sama!" Hidan shouted.

His partner shook his head in annoyance "Shut up, Hidan! Show some respect!"

"Respect my ass! I-"

But he couldn't finish as Pain interrupted "Enough!"

Hidan mumbled something under his breath. If one would listen closely, he would hear a quiet 'sorry'.

"**To answer your question,** Deidara, **it is rumored that Sasori of the Red Sand will get the job done.** For what purposes I do not know. **But still they are just rumors.** What are you going to do with information, Pain-sama?" Zetsu asked.

"Nothing. It is not our business."

"Actually, Pain-sama, I have a proposition." someone asked. It sounded like the man in a dark alley back at Tsuchi no Kuni border. The one who's voice sounded like hissing.

"What is it?"

"I plan to use this opportunity to strike Konoha and weaken their strength, which would be then easy to scout for Kyuubi jinchuuriki and update information on him."

"Hm? How are planning on doing that?"

"It depends if..." and so the man said part of his plan. Not the entire plan, no, but still enough details to convince the leader to allow such actions.

After some minute of discussing, slowly everyone disappeared from the scene by fading away in the shadows. When only two figures were left, one of them spoke. The voice was clearly feminine.

"You think it is okay for him to do that?"

"Either he succeeds or fails, it doesn't matter. He succeeds, we get information and more freedom. He fails, we get rid of another S-ranked criminal who could be nuisance in my plans." Pain answered.

"I hope you're right."

* * *

**-Konoha-**

Next day was bright as ever and many genins were anticipated to get new missions. Oh what a disappointment it will be after they will finish their first 'Devil cat Tora' mission.

It was 12 a.m. and team 7 were heading to the team's meeting place where their sensei was _supposed_ to wait for them. He was supposed to wait because the trio were 3 hours late.

As they got closer to the spot, they saw Kakashi appearing via shunshin. "Yo." he said as he did his famous eye smile "Sorry for being late, I-"

"Cut the crap, Kakashi. We arrived just now as well."

Kakashi looked at them with shock. Damn them. And he finally made up a new excuse...

"Right, lets go to Hokage-sama and get the mission. Yesterday I convinced him to give us a C ranked instead of D." Kakashi said as they walked towards the Hokage tower.

"Really? Thank you so much, Kakashi-sensei!" Sakura said in joy. Kakashi was a bit confused.

"You just got some points of respect." Naruto added.

"Huh?"

"Kakashi. Thanks for saving us from the 'Devil Cat'." Sasuke thanked.

Kakashi looked at them with deadpan expression. 'Devil Cat'? Then realization hit him like a ton of bricks. "Oooohhh. So you already know all the joy of D ranks?"

"Of course. I received info not only on jounin, but also about their genin squad and their missions in the village." Naruto said.

"I still can't understand how you get the info."

"That's a secret, cyclops." Naruto said with a smirk.

"Don't call me that."

They were going rather slowly, enjoying the morning warmth. After minute or two of silence, Kakashi spoke up "Your introduction at the roof of academy was just an act as well, right?"

All three of them nodded.

"Quite impressive. I actually believed it. Anyway, care to tell something about yourselves? I mean, I'm sure you know each other quite well, but I would like to knew you better as well. You are my partners now, right?"

"Partners?" Sakura asked.

"That's right." he answered with an eye smile "Although you're genin by rank, you're quite powerful and we can fight as equals. I'm still your sensei and you should call me sensei, but we're partners."

Naruto liked it. Partner. One more person he can trust and rely on. He already had Sakura and Sasuke, but if he wanted to be Hokage that wasn't enough. He smiled and started off "Sure thing, Kakashi. It is always good to have another friend or partner at my side." Kakashi smiled at this. Slowly, he is being accepted in the team. It should be other way around, where genin should accept each other, but this was a ninja world. No. It was Naruto. "We know a lot about you so it is only fair you know something about us. So, my name is Naruto ... Uzumaki." Kakashi thought it was strange when Naruto paused at his surname, but he let it go.

"My likes are ramen, training, creating and developing new jutsu, my precious people, which includes my team, and there's another thing I like, but I'm not saying it now. My dislikes are arrogant people who has unbelievably big stick up in their asses," everyone sweatdropped at this, " and people who can't forget their pasts to move onward, as well as people who goes with the crowd and believed their fears. By that I mean me and me tenant." Kakashi nodded fully understanding what he was talking about. "My hobbies are training, spending time with my friends here and gardening. My dream for the future is to become a legendary shinobi. Maybe if not legendary, then powerful shinobi and to become the next Hokage. Well, I won't be the next one as I'm too young and still only a genin, I dream to become Rokudaime. I would then do everything to protect the people of village."

Gardening? Kakashi thought. Oh, why not? He also guessed both Sakura and Sasuke knew about the Kyuubi if Naruto was talking so freely about it. Though he was surprised by his dream. He knew Naruto wanted to be the Hokage, but the man didn't know why he wanted to be and it appears Naruto wanted to be Hokage for right reasons. He also was impressed by how much maturity Naruto showed when he talked about being the Hokage.

Taking the initiative, Sakura said her story "Well my name is Sakura Haruno. My likes are my friends here, family training and developing new genjutsu. I also like cooking. My dislikes, juts like Naruto's, are arrogant people and fan-girls. Yes, I know that's surprising seeing how I was one once. But when I started to train with the boys I couldn't help but notice how fan-girls acted. How I acted. Anyway, my hobbies are creating new jutsu for my bloodline as well as developing genjutsu, and cooking. My dreams are to become strong and well known kunoichi, just like Tsunade-sama, and to bring genjutsu to new levels. The art of genjutsu is indeed forgotten."

Kakashi was indeed pleased with Sakura. She too showed great maturity and her dream sounded sincere.

Now it was Sasuke's turn. "You know my name already so I won't repeat i-" he got a death glare from Naruto and Sakura. Sasuke sighed. "Alright, alright. You almost killed me here with those glares..." and another glare.

"Anyway, my name is Sasuke Uchiha. My likes. Well I guess these two and training. Oh and I like tomatoes and taking walks." Kakashi sweatdropped. "My dislikes are arrogant people who are power hungry, just like my clan. Never liked them. My hobbies are training. My dream is to become an ANBU like my brother and maybe become well known ninja."

Overall, Kakashi was impressed and pleased with his team. All of them liked training and had a good dream, which meant they have the motivation to keep going. All of them hated the same kind of people, making their bond stronger. In fact, Kakashi didn't like arrogant people as well. He was a bit concerned about Sasuke's dream, but he will see where it is going. Kakashi just hoped Sasuke won't become as Itachi. It was also quite surprising that an Uchiha hated his clan.

"I'm proud of you. It is our first day together, but I'm already proud of you. I believe we will work together just fine." Kakashi said and looked up ahead "Oh, it seems we're already here."

And he was right. They were in front of Hokage tower. They walked in and went to Mission Hall where missions were being assigned. They walked in a large room. There was a long table at which Hokage himself, Iruka and some random chunin were sitting and giving out the missions.

"Hey, jiji." Naruto shouted out, ignoring everyone else in the room.

Except for team 7, there was also team 10 there. When Ino heard how Naruto addressed the Hokage, she was petrified. "_Naruto-baka is and always will be a baka. He is going to be slaughtered!_" she thought in a horror. Shikamaru and Choji were surprised as well. Asuma just snickered and approached Kakashi for some words. What was the most shocking for three genin of team 10 was that Hokage actually answered without any rage on anger, but rather with... loving and caring voice.

"Hello, Naruto-kun. I believe you passed your exam just perfectly."

"Oh, wouldn't you know, jiji."

"What do you mean?" Hokage asked.

"After I activated _something,_" he blinked twice indicating that he was talking about his Rinnegan, "I saw you were using that crystal spying ball."

Hokage was shocked, as was Kakashi and Asuma. Nothing could see it! Nothing and no one! Regaining his composure, he said "We'll talk about that later. You haven't visited me recently. Tell me how you've been." And so Naruto and Hokage spent next 2 or 3 minutes talking.

Meanwhile, when Ino saw that no one is getting killed she approached team 7, Shikamaru and Choji following her as they didn't have any choice. Ino addressed Sakura "It looks like Naruto-baka is quite close to the Hokage-sama. I wonder what our leader saw in that loser anyway. I don't even understand how he passed the genin exam. I guess Sasuke-kun did all the work. By the way, what's with the new outfi-"

Suddenly, she was overflowed with a combined KI. It was all directed at her and she was already on her knees, panting and sweating heavy. Shikamaru and Choji fared better as they only had trouble breathing. All the talking stopped as everyone looked at the scene. Naruto was too occupied by talking to Hokage that he didn't hear what they were talking about.

Ino barely managed to raise her head to look who leaked such KI. She suspected it to be Kakashi as it was his student, but what she saw shocked her. It was combined KI of Kakashi, Sakura and Sasuke. Kakashi leaked the less KI and Sakura leaked thrice as much. Sasuke, on the other hand, was the one who was leaking the most KI. Both Sakura and Sasuke had clear anger in their eyes.

"Never talk..." Sakura started.

"...about Naruto like that ever again..." Sasuke continued

"...in our presence." Sakura finished.

"Even though Kurenai-sensei removed most of the fan-girls from the academy, some stayed. You just proved you're one of them." Sasuke stated and he stopped leaking KI.

I was a lot easier to breathe now, but still Kakashi's and Sakura's KI pressed her down. But then they vanished. She quickly stood up, and stood between Choji and Shikamaru, as if hiding between them. She was too afraid and too shocked to say something. It didn't make any sense though. What could happen in one week? Shikamaru, Choji and Asuma were shocked as well, all for the same reasons. Such KI just from a genin.

Naruto snickered at the faces of team 10. "_HA! They haven't felt MY KI yet._" he thought. Naruto approached team 10 and stood just in front of Ino. Though Ino calmed down a bit, she was still too shocked to talk. But she couldn't help but admire Naruto as she took in his new features. Now when orange eye sore was gone it was more easier to look at him. He looked quite handsome...

Suddenly Naruto spoke "Did you know Sasuke hates fan-girls? Have you ever questioned yourselves why he ignored you or you just thought it's because he is so cool? Hmph, you just annoyed him at the academy." Sasuke nodded agreeing with Naruto.

Ino couldn't help but blink dumbfounded.

Hokage coughed, bringing back all attention to him. "Right. You came here for missions, so lets get back to business." Seeing as everyone turned their attention to him, he spoke "Team 7, you'll get the mission first as it is more important. Actually, you first mission as a genin squad is going to be a B ranked."

Obviously team 10 widened their eyes in utter disbelief. They had to do some stupid D ranks and team 7 got a B rank as their first one? All three genins on team 10 had the same thought 'They're genin fresh out of academy, they can't possibly take a B rank.' Overcoming the shock Shikamaru decided to voice his concerns.

"But Hokage-sama, we're fresh out of academy and I'm sure we can't take on dangerous missions as B ranks."

Hokage smirked "Yes, Shikamaru, I agree."

Shikamaru was a bit confused "But then-"

"I agree that YOU'RE not ready. But they," he proudly pointed at team 7 "they are. You'll find soon enough why."

Shikamaru just stood there, dumbfounded. Countless scenarios ran in his head on what Hokage could mean by that. Sure, he knew Naruto and Sasuke were training, but they surely couldn't get that strong. It was too troublesome to think on it now so he just stood there.

"Hokage-sama." Kakashi spoke out "Yesterday we talked about giving them only a C rank. Why change your mind so quickly?"

Hokage smiled "Originally, this one was supposed to be a C rank but the client send some extra information so I upgraded it to a B rank. I don't want to show any favoritism but I believe team 7 _skills and talents_ could be used elsewhere than in bandit or wild animal chasing. Team 7 is quite _unique_ team, right?" he said, emphasizing on some parts so Kakashi would understand what he was referring to.

Shikamaru narrowed his eyes "_This is clearly a code talk. Just what did he mean by 'unique'. What's so unique about them that they could get a B rank mission as their first one? Troublesome..."_

Ino was very shocked and confused. Usually at this situation she would demand explanations and such, but not in the presence of Hokage and not in this state of mind (after combined KI). Choji was confused as well, but he didn't care that much.

"I suppose you're right. Do we accept?" Kakashi asked the team.

Before everyone could answer, Asuma asked "Kakashi, why are you asking them? You're the one who decides."

Hokage looked at Kakashi and wanted to know that as well. The man gave an eye smile and said "Well. When a sparrow can bite the hawk, they become equal. And with equalness comes Will of Fire." (_A/N: I know it sounds obvious, but just imagine this code was so hard that Shikamaru couldn't figure it out just yet.)_

Both Sarutobi nodded fully understanding what he meant. Looked like Kakashi's genin's caught on that as well because they were smirking. On the other hand genin of team 10 had this 'Whaaat?' face expression.

"So, are we taking it?"

"Of course." Sasuke replied. "Not gonna miss a chance to kick someone's ass."

"Maybe B ranked is still too high for us? Maybe we could start with high C ranking?" Sakura said though she didn't really mean her words as she wanted that B ranked mission as much as the boys did.

"Oh come, Sakura, I agree with emo. This is our big chance. Imagine, we will be the first genin team in history who skipped all the D and C ranked missions and started straight with B! We will the first genin in history who were saved from 'The Demon Cat'!" Naruto tried to reasons.

Now that was unfair, thought team 10. They had to catch that demon of a cat - in fact all genin teams had to catch it - yet team 7 got lucky and avoided the torture.

"Now when you put it that way it sure sounds awesome. I'm in!" Sakura said and chuckled "I was just messing with you. I want this mission as much as you do."

"I almost got a heart attack in that moment. Don't mess around with such things, Sakura. It's dangerous." Sasuke said and three of them laughed. Ino was getting jealous of their interactions. They weren't like this in academy. It wasn't like that in her team.

"_It looks like they know each other for years..._"

"Okay then, we accept, Hokage-sama. What's the mission?" Kakashi finally asked and the trio suddenly became all serious, which in turn surprised team 10.

"Here's the scroll." Hokage threw a purple scroll with a big 'B' on it to Kakashi, who in turn easily caught it. "Everything's written in it. You may lave the village when you're ready, but I advise you do it as fast as possible."

Kakashi opened the scroll and read through the contents. When he finished, he raised an eyebrow. "Interesting one. What do you guys think?" He asked as he passed the scroll to his team.

All of them read through the scroll and copied Kakashi's face expression at the end.

"Sound interesting." Sakura said.

"Interesting or not, we need to focus on the objective. Let's go and pack everything we need. We'll discuss it later, as we go to the destination." Naruto said, showing some leadership which Kakashi and Hokage noticed.

"Agreed." said Kakashi and Sasuke at the same time.

"Let's meet up at main the main gate after 2 hours." Kakashi said, but before he could shunshin away, Naruto stopped him

"Kakashi. If you're going to be even 1 second late, you're gonna experience something what will make 'Moonlight Sonata' look like a child's game." Naruto said as he gave the man a death glare. Sasuke and Sakura joined in as well and it was intimidating as hell.

"O-Okay. J-Ja ne!" He said and shunshined away, his face all sweaty. "_Damn, they're something else._" Although he was interested what could it be, he didn't want to test the fate. Plus he really didn't know what abilities they possess so their threat may be real. "I might as well turn on time..." he mumbled.

Team 7 just left the Hokage tower and Choji looked at the spot they were some moments ago.

"Did they just threatened THE Kakashi?" he asked himself.

Shikamaru shook his head while Ino remained silent.

"Khem. So, for team 10 we have walking Inuzuka dogs, picking up the litter at nearby lake, or... OH. Catching Tora the cat!" Hokage said in a sing song voice.

Team 10's shout of horror was heard all across the village.

* * *

**END!**

**I would appreciate some feedback. **

**I also know some thing might be confusing so feel free to ask. **

**Though there's some thing I want you think about (more like know your opinion):**

**Can you guess who were those two man were at the dark alley?**

**What do you think the mission is?**

**What will happen to team 10 after team 7's little performance at the Hokage mission hall?**

**Well, that's all.**

**Ja ne!**


	7. Announcement

Sorry for disappointing, but it's not a new chapter!

I just wanted to say to anyone who reads it - **MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR!** ^_^

I got ill last week so I didn't do much writing and got late on update. Though I have almost finished the chapter and hopefully it will be posted at Friday (it now depends on my beta reader).

Please don't leave reviews for this announcement, because it's not an actual chapter.

Have a happy holidays and have fun! You deserve it, I'm sure! (:


	8. Chapter 7 Feathers

**FINALLY AN UPDATE! Sorry for the long wait, but week before Christmas I got ill and didn't get much writing done. I was alright on Christmas so I went to party... and got ill again. The irony. Anyway, I finally completed the chapter and thanks to my beta reader for spotting some mistakes and correcting them. **

**As for the reviews:**

**For those few who tried to guess what mission it will be. I forgot to mention it's not Wave ( ._.)**

**Gaaraxx33: although I like Tora mission as well, I think it would be a shame for team 7. lol. imagine their faces, when after 5 years of hard training all they need to do is catch a cat...**

**Gelasia-kitty: I'm glad my story makes someone happy : **

**Newbiegod35: nope, it's not wave, though it will come due time. Wave was one of my favorite arcs so I can't skip it. Unfortunately. And you can be sure team 7's first mission will be more epic than wave. Well, in my opinion at least. **

** Opnbf: I know what you mean! There are really a lot of stories where cool and good plot turns in some romantic shit. No offense. There was this one fic (PM if you want to know which one), where it was great and very interesting until ~20 chapters. Then, there was 2 lemons each chapter, with unrealistically many girls at once, a lot of dating and romance. After some chapters I forgot what the plot was actually about and stopped reading. You can be sure that it won't happen with mine. There will be a chapter or two dedicated for relationship development, but I'll try to make them actually interesting and connected to the main plot/arc.**

**xxOMGgalxx: well, you'll need to find out. i already have plans concerning them.**

**SilverIcy: although I like how you imagine it, it's not wave mission. Zabuza & Co will eventually meet team 7 and maybe I'll even use some of your lines. **

**XT3: I think it's a bit obvious that this story is going for Sasuke/Sakura relationship, but nope, it's not Naruto/Ino. I already have plans for the blonde.**

** This mission is completely original, so I would really like your feedback on it. Hope you like it.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Narutoverse.**

**On with the chapter then.**

* * *

**Chapter 7**

**Feathers**

"Wow! Kakashi is actually on time!" Naruto exclaimed as he and his two teammates approached the gates. Indeed Kakashi was already there, reading his porn book and waiting for his little genin. "Though I hoped he will be late."

"Yes. It would have been pretty funny." Sasuke chuckled and added "It would have been good blackmail material."

"Somehow I regret that we threatened him." Sakura said as she sighed "He could be late as usual and we could have had a moment of amusement." Naruto nodded, fully agreeing with Sasuke and Sakura.

Kakashi, seeing his team approaching, put his book away. Maybe one of them utterly hated perverts and their production, so he couldn't take any chances. Better to be safe than sorry.

"Yo." He greeted them in his usually lazy voice as they came closer. "Why are you late?"

"Actually we're on time, Kakashi-sensei." Sakura said "Why are YOU so early?"

Kakashi looked at the position of sun to measure the time. Seeing as Sakura was right, he totally ignored her question and carried on "Do you have everything needed for the mission? It is B-ranked thus we will be gone for a week or two."

Sakura sweatdropped but nevertheless they all nodded.

"Good, I'll trust you and won't check your equipment. Now lets go." Said Kakashi and without awaiting 'Hai, Kakashi-sensei', because he knew he won't receive one, he jumped on to the nearest branches. The three genin quickly followed him.

Some hours have passed in silence as four figures leapt from branch to branch, nearing their destination. Squad leader, Kakashi, saw a small river nearby and decided to make 10 minute break.

"We'll take a break for 10-15 minutes here." Kakashi said and jumped down from the tree. His 3 genin followed him without any objections. All of them sat in a small clearing near the river and took out a scroll from Sakura's backpack and unsealed it, revealing an assortment of food and drinks. Kakashi raised an eyebrow "Sealing scrolls?"

Sakura nodded, but Sasuke answered in her place "Naruto makes them. He is kind of sealing specialist."

Now that was a revelation that surprised Kakashi "Sealing specialist? That's quite an art and to become a specialist you need a guidance of a master, someone like Jiraya-sama."

Naruto smirked "Not when you have my dad's notes and nice text copying ability."

Kakashi widened his eye but then returned to normal, remembering the day when Naruto asked Hokage about his father. "I see. How many seals you know?" he asked as he thought _"Looks like those two knows about his father as well, I wonder how close they are."_

"A bunch actually. Once I copy a seal, it always stays in my mind so I just need to practice drawing it and learning its effect."

Kakashi nodded his head "What about the food? Did Sakura make everything?"

"Yeah, I made everything, but Naruto helped me a bit." Sakura answered.

"A bit? I did almost half the work!" Naruto pouted.

"Okay, he did _almost_ half the work." Sakura said in sing-song voice.

"Naruto can cook?" Kakashi said, raising his eyebrow. This team was full of surprises.

"Yes. Though Sakura is a better cook, his cooking is not half bad either." Sasuke said.

"When you live alone you have to learn how to take care of yourself. And if I would eat only ramen I would be a midget!"

Kakashi nodded. Sakura then gave everyone a box of home made bento. Everyone ate in silence until Kakashi remembered something "You know, in your genin exam you called Naruto 'taichou'. Why?"

Sasuke raised his head from the bento box and answered "Well, obviously, because he is our team leader."

"Why? I thought you would like that position."

Sasuke narrowed his eyes "Just because I'm an Uchiha?"

"Well, partly yes. And partly because I just thought so, in my personal opinion. You look like the type to command." Kakashi elaborated.

Seeing that Kakashi was genuine in his comment, Sasuke relaxed. He really didn't like those who thought that, since he was an Uchiha, he should get everything, even the position of leader. "Some years ago I would've liked the position, but not anymore. I'm not really suited to lead, I'm more the person who obeys commands. That's why I want to be just high ranking ANBU, not captain."

"It sounds strange coming from you." Kakashi honestly said.

"I agree. I said the same when he told me that." Naruto replied.

"Anyway, how did you find that out?" Kakashi asked.

This time it was Sakura who answered "We were sparring against Naruto." Kakashi had confused look so she elaborated "Once every week, me, Sasuke and Naruto would team up against hundreds of Naruto Kage Bunshins. There was a period when Naruto decided to test our leadership so in each spar one of would become a leader and give out orders. The task was to beat the clones as fast as possible while receiving less injuries. I did okay, while Sasuke was the worst." At this Sasuke sighed. He didn't like to be the last or the worst one. "Yes, Sasuke gave orders, but they weren't well thought. Seeing as no one restrained him he tended to rush in a fight and take on as many clones at once as possible."

_"I would expect Naruto to do something like that. And it sounds those spars are tough. Would need to try it once."_ Kakashi thought.

Sakura continued "In the end of that one sparring match, we had the most injuries. Naruto did the best. Just in mere seconds he formulated a good plan which resulted in a fast victory with the less injuries. That was also the day when Naruto suggested various formations. So we decided Naruto would be our leader, plus he is the strongest of us."

"Hmm, interesting, how many clones did you fought at once?"

This time it was Naruto who answered as he was the one who created the clones thus he knows the exact amount of clones made "We started with 100 clones and at the end of the year we could take on 175 clones. Now we can handle 340 clones."

Kakashi widened his eye "Impossible. How..." Kakashi then realized "No, it is possible. Kyuubi."

Naruto smirked "That's right, though Kyuubi is not the only factor. Thanks to my Rinnegan I've got special chakra which even further increases the density and amount of my chakra. Making 300 clones is like making one huge Gōkakyū for Sasuke."

"Still, only you three against so many clones must be epic. How long have you trained together?"

Sasuke smirked at Kakashi's comment "For 5 years now. And yes, it is epic. With each year clones get much stronger, but so do we."

"5 years!" Kakashi exclaimed. No wonder they were so strong.

"Anyway, does anyone know where this 'Glass Village' is?" Naruto asked referring to their mission. "I've never heard of it before."

Their missions was to help one Konoha investigator who now was some miles from Glass Village. Said investigator was actually a Konoha jounin who was on long term A, bordering S ranked mission. His mission was to find and investigate any Orochimaru abandoned bases and try to find about his whereabouts, hidden bases, or the man's plans. He now was on his way back to the village to report his results after years of absence, but then he found another base not far from Glass Village, though the base was already occupied with bandits. He could take care of them, but there was another interesting matter he had to attend to. So he requested help from his home village while he made a camp not far from Glass Village. He knew that there were not any ninjas in the village, because he visited it when he left Hi no Kuni some years ago so he didn't ask them for help nor he wanted to settle there, fearing to attract attention from bandits.

After some days the man, whose name was Wahoki, went to the base again to see if the bandits left. And to his surprise there wasn't any bandits left. In their place some missing ninjas appeared. So he sent another letter, updating the information. The mission easily could be A ranked, but Wahoki stated that there is no need to send other jounin, because high ranking missing-nin usually don't hang around together. He requested some chuunin. He is in a big surprise when he sees who has arrived to help him.

There was also another fact which made three genins and a jounin interested: the forest, which was near the village, was 'filled with white feathers' as Wahoki says. They weren't there when he last went through the forest some years ago. Also, Wahoki had heard how some villagers referred to the forest as 'Forest of Angel', when in the past it was just that, a 'forest'. He also heard some interesting stories about appearance of angel or something.

"It's not actually a village." Sakura said as she was the only all knowing person in the team "It's more like a settlement or fort and it is located south from Taki's border. Hundreds of years ago it was an important village where the glass could be mined out from the mine." Seeing dumbfounded looks on everyone, Sakura sighed "Yes, mined out not made. It was strange natural phenomenon. And the glass was special, people used it to make weapons from it. I don't know why nothing is said about it in our history books, but the mine is long since gone and the weapons destroyed or lost. So now it's just an ordinary small village with ancient name."

"How do you know so much?" Sasuke asked.

"I just know." she answered.

"Right..." Naruto added as he stood up. "I think it's time to go, Kakashi."

"Yeah, we've rested long enough. Couple more hours and then we'll make a camp for the night. We should be at destination by tomorrow noon." Kakashi said and all four of them rushed towards their destination.

* * *

West from the Glass Village, closer to the Kusa border, two figures appeared. One had a mask and other had a pale skin.

"Orochimaru." addressed the masked man, "I hope you haven't lost the scroll."

"Ku ku ku." laughed the now revealed Orochimaru as he answered in hiss like voice "Don't worry, Tobi-san. I would never lose something so precious."

"Good." the man known as Tobi said. "Start the summoning after some days."

"Fine. But why this Glass Village?" asked the pale skinned man.

"Because almost no one knows about it and will bring less attention to us." Tobi said, "It's more like a settlement than a village and it doesn't have any ninjas in there."

"I see. Indeed we don't need much attention."

"Where will you hide for now? You can't go to village though - village's chief might recognize you." Tobi asked.

Orochimaru raised an eyebrow "Hmm? How so?"

"I've heard that he is a former ninja. If that's true then he might keep an eye to latest bingo book and if he recognizes you then he might as well send information to Konoha or any other ninja village. We can't take any chances." Tobi answered.

"Ku ku ku. Wise as ever, Tobi-san." Orochimaru then remembered something as he had quite happy voice. Well, as happy as Orochimaru's voice can get "If I remember correctly, then I have a hidden base further west from here. I haven't particularly used it so it's abandoned but it will be just fine for now."

"Good. Once you use the scroll, get out of there and report. We will come back after some days to check results."

Orochimaru nodded his head in understanding. Then Tobi vanished in some kind of swirl coming from his eye. When Tobi was gone, Orochimaru grinned as he said to himself "Well, now when pleasantries are done, it's time to find new material for experiments!" That said he was gone via shunshin.

No one saw them, but if one would, that person would say something about black cloaks with red clouds on it.

* * *

**-Team awesomeness, aka Team 7-**

It was now a nighttime and team 7 settled on a small clearing. They set up their tents pretty quickly and were now sleeping, though Kakashi had the first watch. Each of them would stay up for 2 hours and then change. Kakashi would do the watch twice - the first one and last one, resulting in 10 hours of rest. Now it was Naruto on watch. It was early in the morning, 5:47 am. 13 more minutes and Kakashi would end Naruto's turn, allowing him to rest.

Suddenly he heard some talking a mile away from his location. Being on watch, he sent chakra to his ears to enchance his hearing range. He was laying on a large tree's branch, just above the tents. This way he was hidden as well as he could see more. He pretended to be asleep, in case one of the persons who's approaching notices him. He concentrated on the spot where the the sound was coming from to overhear what intruders were talking about.

"Are you sure about this, Saiko?" someone whispered quite loudly.

"Shut up, Riko!" someone else answered, "We need to be quiet."

"Why? They're simple civilians anyway." someone else asked.

Naruto grunted. _''Simple civilian they say? We shall see.'' _Naruto then realized_"It's great opportunity for Sakura and Sasuke!"_

The man who spoke second now said "On 'three' we kill them quickly and take everything they might have. Heh, poor people won't even know what hit 'em."

Before they could start the deed, bandits heard some strange, out of place bird's chirping. It really sounded strange but the bandits just ignored them, unsheathed their katanas and rushed in making a lot of noise.

Typical amateur bandits.

But team 7 already knew about intruders and were prepared. Sasuke was in his tent, holding a kunai in his hands and waiting in anticipation for the right moment; Sakura was in the same position, though she wasn't as excited as Sasuke was, she was worried for this was her first real battle. Kakashi was... well. He was armed with a blanked and loud snoring. Yes, he was sleeping. He has more experience than other three so his senses are always on alert and he felt bandits a while ago. Feeling that no threat is coming from them and that they are probably simple bandits, nothing his team couldn't take care of, he went back to sleep. So much of a sensei.

One of the bandits rushed towards Sakura's tent intending to stab through it and finish civilian as fast as possible. Sakura sensed bandit's movement and guessing what he was up to, she jumped out of the tent and without losing her momentum rushed towards the bandit. Said bandit was dumbstruck because he didn't expect such speed and reaction from a simple civilian. He also noticed something shiny in 'civilian' hands but it was too late because he was quickly approaching the ground. His throat has been sliced open. It was done quietly. Other bandits didn't even pay any attention on what's happening because they thought their companion killed a civilian. How wrong they were.

Sakura saw there are two more bandits who are approaching Naruto's tent, which was empty, and Kakashi's. Knowing and sensing that Naruto is not in his tent she ran towards the bandit who was approaching Kakashi's tent. The distance was't far so Sakura didn't have time to make a long series of handseals. Instead, she made three.

Both bandits reached their destination and raised their katana to slice the tents as Sakura finished her handseals. Kakashi still seemed to be oblivious. Before bandits could lower their weapons, the tents suddenly disappeared in a grey smoke.

The one who was at Kakashi's tent voiced the question of, now two, bandits "What the fuck?!"

Sasuke was waiting for his enemy to get closer to his tent, to make a surprise attack. When he heard strange noises coming from outside he decided to make the first move rather than waiting. When he quickly left the tent, he was shocked at what he saw. One bandit, which he was kind of disappointed to see, was laying on the ground near Sakura's tent, his throat bleeding. He quickly turned his head and saw Sakura slicing another man's throat, quickly ending his life.

He saw another bandit in the corner of his eye, standing there dumbstruck and staring into Naruto's tent as if it weren't there. Sasuke wanted to throw a kunai, which he still held in hand, to finish the bandit quickly but Sakura was already ahead of him.

Just as Sakura sliced the second bandit's throat, she spun on her heels and threw a bloodied kunai in the last bandit's neck, killing him. Everything happened in about 10 seconds.

Naruto was still sitting on the branch and observed everything. When it ended, he raised an eyebrow thinking _"Interesting. Poor emo didn't get his first kill. Sakura got all of them, now lets see how she fares with it."_

"Good morning!" all three genins heard from Kakashi's tent which was accompanied with a loud yawn. Kakashi walked out of his tent and observed the scene. Naruto joined the group by jumping off from the branch.

"Naruto!" Sasuke shouted "Where the hell were you?"

"Hmm? Oh, I was up there sitting on the branch." Naruto replied as he pointed at the three.

"What were you doing there when the bandits attacked us? Why didn't you help us?" Sasuke insisted.

Naruto rolled his eyes "Geez, Sasuke. Because I wanted you and Sakura to get your first kill. Better to do it now against weak enemies than later versus strong opponent who will kill you if you hesitate. Plus, I warned you and all you were up the moment you heard my warning." Seeing that Sasuke is slowly accepting his reasoning, he decided to add another fact which will calm down the boy "Besides. Kakashi sensed them as well and instead of warning us or helping, he just went back to sleep."

Sasuke raised his eyebrow and turned his head to face Kakashi who already had his eye smile.

"T-They a-are d-d-dead..." Sakura mumbled as she looked at her bloody hands.

Everyone now turned their attention to Sakura. She was shaking badly and staring at her hands. Thank Kami she wasn't crying, but still she needs to calm down. Kakashi decided to take that role.

"Sakura," he started off "We're ninjas and killing is our job."

"Y-Yeah, b-but..."

"Sakura, why did you killed them?" Kakashi suddenly asked.

Sakura finally raised her head and looked into Kakashi's eye thinking why exactly did she killed them "I-I k-k-killed them for self d-defense and to p-protect you. One of t-them was going for you, Kakashi-sensei." She slowly was calming down.

"Good." Kakashi said "Remember, we're ninjas and killing is our job but we need to remember why we kill. We kill to complete the mission and bring fame and honor to our village, we kill to protect our precious people including the village. We take a life to save more lives. What if you didn't kill them? They could've killed me. Imagine what they did in the past - killing innocent and defenseless civilians, and who knows what would've happened in the future."

Sakura understood him. It was still hard to overcome the experience.

"Sakura, did you liked it? Did you like the feeling when you took the life of another person?" Kakashi asked another question.

"N-No, of course no." Sakura immediately replied.

"Good. Remember this thing as well, all three of you. As long as you feel bad about killing or don't feel anything at all and kill for the right reasons, it's okay. But if you start to feel some kind of excitement or joy when taking life, then you're not okay. Then you slowly become a killer who then will kill just for entertainment."

Kakashi's words had a different effect on his team.

Sasuke eye widened as Kakashi's words made him remember his childhood.

_-Flashback-_

"Itachi-nii, what is being a ninja like?" younger Sasuke asked.

Itachi did a sad smile and looked into Sasuke's eyes "It's hard." he stated.

"Why?"

"Because you have to take a life to save another. I hate killing, but it's my job to keep village safe and happy."

"Hm? I always thought it's fun."

Itachi narrowed his eyes "Fun? Fun to kill?"

"No. Fun to be a ninja. You can do so much flashy jutsu, run on the walls and do other amazing things!"

Itachi sighed _"Kids."_ he thought and said "You'll understand when you'll get older."

Sasuke pouted "You always say that."

Itachi chuckled and poked his forehead "Foolish little brother."

_-Flashback end-_

_"That's right!"_ Sasuke said inwardly _"Itachi always loved his village and wanted to keep it safe, as well as he disliked killing but he also said in order to save one or more lives you need to take another. It's like some kind of price. Could it be that Itachi killed our clan in order to keep the village safe? It is just a possibility but when you think about it, it might as well be true. But if it is true, what could the Uchiha have planned that could have threatened Konoha?"_

While Sasuke was inwardly debating with himself, Naruto had other thoughts _"Take life to save another. Take life to protect. Take life to bring honor to your village. I... I don't like it. When taking life you also need to consider hatred and rage. You kill a person to save another, yet the person you killed may have a loved ones. Said loved ones will start to hate you and will want a revenge leading to more lives lost, leading to more hatred and rage, which in turn will lead to more lives lost. It's like some kind of circle. Circle of hatred. I think that's how the wars start."_

_**"Exactly, kit."** _Kyuubi finally said in a long time **_"Dad tried to solve this problem, but he failed. I mean, he managed to save this land from destruction, introduced ninjutsu 'n' stuff, created peace. This peace didn't last for long though - once he disappeared wars broke out between various fractions, which you now may know as clans, wanting for more power. Villages then were made. You know the rest."_** _(A/N: when Kyuubi said 'dad' he was referring to Rikudō Sennin (RS). RS created bijuu so they labeled him as a father instead of 'creator'. When Kyuubi will refer to RS, it will be either 'father' or 'dad' and rarely RS)_

_"And how did he achieved this brief peace?" _

**_"I'm not sure, we bijuu were created after that."_**

_"I see. Thanks for info though."_

Both boys snapped out of their musings when they finally heard Sakura "Thanks, Kakashi-sensei. I really needed it."

"Are you alright now?" the man asked.

"Well, kind of. I still need to think about it a bit, but I'll be fine, thanks."

Kakashi nodded and looked at his other two partners and wondered why they were so quiet. Little did he know that his words made a great impact on them, changing their destiny forever. The same could be said about Sakura.

Boys finally paid attention to Sakura and started to ask various questions, both concerned about the girl. Naruto then started to retell everything and how cool it looked. Sasuke was getting a little jealous and not jealous because he didn't get anything to kill, but because Sakura would have an advantage when faced with stronger opponent. He also wondered how he will react to his first kill.

"Okay guys!" Kakashi called out "We've rested enough and seeing how we won't fall asleep anymore I suggest to get some breakfast and head on to our destination."

Agreeing with the man everyone collected their things and went further to the river to find a place where to eat. They didn't want to eat at such holy time when bloody bodies are laying around.

A hour has passed and team 7 already finished their breakfast and were on the road. Just some more hours and they will be at their destination.

* * *

Another few hours has passed and team 7 was jumping from branch to branch in fast pace. Suddenly, they saw a small village appearing on the hill over the horizon.

"Is that a Glass Village?" Sasuke asked.

"Yeah. We need to get on the road now and walk instead of jumping through trees." Kakashi answered.

Naruto asked "Why?"

"The client said that he is going to meet us on the way to Glass Village. He asked us to switch to road when we see the village." Sakura answered.

Sasuke raised his eyebrow "How do you know?"

Sakura rolled her eyes "You know, when reading mission details you need to read all the details. Even those which are written in very small font."

"Oh."

And so they did - got back on the road and walked slowly. After about a hour of walk Kakashi finally broke the silence "He is here. We finally arrived."

And it was true. They still were far away from the village, but the forest around them became thinner. Everyone sensed that someone stood behind a tree little further ahead. Team 7 stopped.

"You can come out now." Kakashi shouted out.

"Isn't it Kakashi of the Sharingan." the main said as he came into everyone's sight of view and everyone inspected him. The man was as tall as Kakashi with short, brown hair and grey eyes. He wore standard Konoha's navy blue uniform, but instead of flack jacket he had black, sleeveless coat with a hood.

As Wahoki came closer, he narrowed his eyes. "Kakashi-san who are these kids? This is a high B, bordering A ranked mission. Not exactly walk in the park."

"These are my partners, my new genin team and I can assure-" Kakashi was interrupted by Wahoki.

"Genin? Is Sandaime Hokage mad, sending some fresh out of academy genin on this mission? I bet these punks don't even know how to-" now the man was interrupted with a wave of unrealistically focused KI. He was already on his knees... no, he barely managed to stand on his knees. He was breathing heavily and sweat was pouring from him like mad. He was scared. This KI was unreal. Even Kakashi couldn't do something like that, he was sure. He found some strength to raise his head and look from whom this KI was coming. What he saw, shocked him.

He saw how the KI was _leaking_ from the blond kid. Huge, black wings sprouted out from kid's back and a figure appeared behind him. Instead of body, the figure had a shroud of black smoke and its eyes were made from pure flame, burning into his soul and trying to devour it. A pair of skeleton hands came from the black smoke and in one of them there was a black scythe with amethyst blade.

Shinigami, it was Shinigami itself. The blond kid opened his mouth to speak, as did the Shinigami, but instead of mouth the figure had a blinding light coming from black smoke. They spoke like one - voice of a boy and a girl echoed throughout the forest.

**"Never judge ninja by how he looks and what rank he has. Know the ninja, know the person, know his skills and only then make your judgement!"**

As fast as it began, it ended. Naruto returned to normal and Shinigami disappeared. Wahoki was barely holding onto his consciousness; he even almost peed himself from fear. Though the KI was focused only at Wahoki, it was felt by everyone, although on lesser extent. Kakashi was holding his knees with his hands and panting, a little sweat beads coming from his forehead. The same for Sakura and Sasuke. Naruto was the only one alright.

**_"That was badass, kit! Oh god, their faces! I just feel how fear is coming from this Wahoki person."_ **Kyuubi laughed in Naruto's mind.

Naruto himself chuckled inwardly _"Yeah, gotta love this thing. Thanks for teaching it to me. Combining my original KI with my and your chakra and then add my imagination on top is genius. No, it's just overkill. Like I said, it's totally different level of killer intents than most ninjas know. Can't wait when I can show off in chuunin exams."_

_**"I know, right? It's priceless. I'll have to teach you some new things once you return or else this might get boring over time."** _Kyuubi grinned_ "**HA! It can't get boring with your imagination."**  
_

_"Yeah. And it's not when I return; it's when WE return, please remember that." _Naruto answered, but got no response._**  
**_

While Naruto was talking with Kyuubi, his team and Wahoki had different thoughts.

_"That was overkill./Naruto-baka gonna scare off the client."_ thought Sasuke and Sakura respectively.

_"This KI was was strong, even if it wasn't directed at me. Seeing how Wahoki, another jounin, fared it must be insane. Just what Wahoki saw to make so much fear?"_ Kakashi then looked into the eyes of Naruto and saw... a bit of sadness in them _"What is he sad about? Is it because Wahoki called him useless? Or is it because he scared an ally? Or maybe something else? Anyway, it's Wahoki's own fault. I wanted to leak some KI as well, but Naruto was faster."_

_"Oh K-Kami..."_ Wahoki thought as he tried to get up _"I really thought I gonna die some seconds ago. That KI was just monstrous, never in my life I've felt something like that. I underestimated them and I should be careful around that blonde kid."_ He finally got up, though he still had hands on his knees, and inspected Naruto closely. When he saw Naruto's features, Wahoki's widened his eyes _"Y-Yondaime!" _He then noticed those whisker marks and Wahoki narrowed his eyes _"No, it's the Kyuubi kid, though his resemblance with Yondaime is incredible."_

"Y-Y-You a-are-" Wahoki still had troubles speaking, but fortunately Naruto interrupted him.

"Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze." he said. Naruto recognized those yes - eyes of hatred, so he added "And I'm not a Kyuubi or its reincarnation. My dad was a master of fuuinjutsu and locked Kyuubi inside of me. I am his jailor. Or you will be as majority of Konoha's foolish civilians and doubt Yondaime's skills?"

Wahoki didn't know what to say. Yes, he hated Kyuubi because he killed his parents on the fateful day, and he wanted to hate Naruto as well but his ninja mind didn't let him. He knew how skilled Yondaime was at fuuinjutsu, so what Naruto said was true. He finally calmed down and relaxed "I don't want to hate you because I know it's not right, but it's hard. And yes you resemble Yondaime very well, but why do you think you're his child? As far as I remember he didn't have wife and you should be just an orphan."

Naruto rolled his eyes "Geez. Does name Kushina Uzumaki ring any bells? She was the only one Uzumaki in Konoha. Yondaime and Kushina were dating in secret for obvious reasons, seeing as it was a wartime. Besides, if you know Yondaime so well, do you really think he would take another child? Do you really think he could ask someone else to sacrifice their child if he couldn't do it himself? No. And besides, by sealing Kyuubi in me, Yondaime's son, he tried to make me loyal to village although most civilians always wanted to free the demon, instead of keeping it at bay."

He had a point. Naruto looked like Yondaime, and he heard rumors about Kushina and Minato dating. It was still unbelievable that Kyuubi Jinchuuriki was son of Konoha's finest shinobi. No wonder he was so strong now if that KI just seconds ago was any proof. Though something piqued his interest.

"Civilians wanted to free the demon? Why would they want that?" Wahoki asked. Sasuke, Sakura and Kakashi was interested as well on why Naruto thinks so.

Naruto chuckled "I'm village's pariah. All my life most villagers abused me. Wouldn't it be logical if I would become angry and become the demon they call me and kill everyone who abused me and was unfair to me? All the actions they did would've led me to hatred and I would become a mindless killer."

Wahoki and Kakashi raised an eyebrow. Indeed it was logical.

"But what stopped you?" Kakashi asked.

Naruto sighed and looked up to the sky. "I dunno. I've actually never felt hatred. I was angry, confused but I didn't hate. I always loved the village and wanted to become a ninja to protect it. Actually my dream is to become Hokage..." Naruto closed his eyes for some seconds. He then opened them and looked at Wahoki with renewed strength "Anyway, we came here for mission not to discuss my past. And sorry about that KI."

"Right. That KI was insane though. So what are your names?" Wahoki asked the rest.

"Uchiha Sasuke."

"Haruno Sakura."

"Hmm an Uchiha, Haruno and Namikaze. Should be fun." Wahoki said.

"You know my clan, Wahoki-san?" Sakura asked.

"Well, I don't know about your clan but I remember there was a man with Haruno surname. Heard some stories about him and his Blood Release on my travels."

"Really?!" Sakura asked with joy and hope. "Can you tell me those stories please? I've inherited my grandfather's Blood Release and I would like to hear some stories to know me grandfather better. And to make new jutsu!"

"You've got Chishioton? I would like to see it. But the stories can wait." he then looked to an Uchiha. "The last loyal Uchiha. Heard rumors you're genius."

"Yes." everyone looked at him with that 'really?' look "But I'm genius of hard work. Sakura and Naruto are genius of hard work as well, although I think Naruto is the only true genius here."

"Right. We'll see about that later. We wasted too much time here. Lets go to the village and rent some rooms where I can tell you more." Wahoki said.

Kakashi decided to ask as they headed to village's direction "Village? But you stated in the mission brief that you don't want to live in the village."

"Well, yeah. But I'm low on supplies already and it's very uncomfortable to live a week in the wilds when there's a village nearby. Plus, it's a bit dangerous to be in these forests now."

"Why?" Sakura asked.

"Lately a lot of nuke-nin appeared around this area, but they are not as much trouble as _he_ is."

"Who?" Sasuke curiously asked.

"Orochimaru." Wahoki bitterly answered and everyone's eyes widened. No one expected that in their first mission they will face Snake Sannin in person.

"Orochimaru?!" Kakashi couldn't believe they will have to face with Orochimaru problem. After receiving a nod from Wahoki he didn't know what to think "It's no longer B ranked mission then. It is easily A ranked and IF we face Orochimaru then it can as well be S ranked."

"Do you think we're ready for that?" Sakura asked a bit worried.

Naruto answered her question "We're not ready to face Orochimaru one on one, but we can easily stall him for some time together before Kakashi or Wahoki-san comes to help. We also need to consider why Orochimaru is here in the first place. Maybe we won't even need to encounter him."

"Nope, at one point we will have to encounter him." Wahoki intervened "At one point we will have."

"Why?" Sasuke asked.

"Originally your missions would be to exterminate all nuke nin while I search the base. Now, when Orochimaru has returned to his base, the information there would be fresh so we will need to act fast. If we will start a large fight near the base, where the most ninjas are sheltered, it will attract Orochimaru's attention which we don't need, because either Orochimaru will hide all the documents or he will kill us before we know it. Or both of it."

"So basically all of us will need to head in the base in order to reduce time spent in the base and increase the likelihood of obtaining the information." Naruto said.

Wahoki replied "Yeah. To increase our chances and decrease time spent there even more, we would need a-"

"Map." Sasuke intervened. "Naruto can take care of it."

Wahoki raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, I'll take care of the map then. I will also obtain information on Orochimaru's movements in the base as well as information on missing ninjas around the base. Sakura, once we're in the village I want you to ask villagers for newest rumors and if they haven't noticed something strange lately. Wahoki-san, is there a leader or chief in the village?" Wahoki nodded. "Good. Sasuke, you'll go to the chief and ask about their military power. Do not ask for details, just if they have any and will they be able to defend themselves in case if Orochimaru attacks. From what I know, Orochimaru is a man who always does something for a reason and I'm sure he wouldn't stay in his abandoned base if he merely walked by. If the chief still doesn't want to speak, find another way to get information like asking around. Kakashi..." Kakashi looked at Naruto expecting to get a task as well. Both Kakashi himself and Wahoki couldn't believe they will listen to a genin. "...well you're a jounin so I guess you'll think of something useful to do."

Kakashi almost face faulted, but years of experience and steel nerves prevented him from doing so. Nevertheless both Wahoki and Kakashi were surprised at Naruto's leadership and how he distributed tasks.

"It's too dangerous, Naruto." Kakashi said.

"Yeah, how are you going to make a map without heading into the base, Naruto-san? It's too dangerous." Wahoki added.

Naruto raised an eyebrow at -san suffix because he never received one, but he let it slide "I have my ways. Or did you already forgot Kakashi?"

"Hm?"

Sasuke sighed "Naruto has the information on all Konoha's jounin and no one knew about it until now. In fact, Naruto himself revealed it."

Kakashi did 'Ohh' sound. And now Wahoki was curious on how a genin could get information and no one knew about it. "How did he managed to get it?"

"I dunno." Kakashi replied. "Back then he also said 'I have my ways'."

"Yeah, that explains a lot." Wahoki sarcastically replied.

"Nevertheless, I'll trust Naruto. Sasuke, Sakura and Naruto will do what Naruto said they will do while we will make plans for the missing ninja problem. Then, we will act according to the information my team gathered."

"Right." Wahoki replied and they increased their speed.

* * *

After some hours they finally arrived. It was already evening and sun was slowly hiding behind the horizon, coloring the sky red and orange. They crossed the only bridge and wanted to walk past the gates into the village, but two guards stopped them.

"Halt!" Said one of the guards. He had shoulder length gray hair and he wore grey samurai-like armor.

"State your business here, ninjas!" Exclaimed the other one. He had shoulder length light teal hair and the guard wore blue samurai-like armor. Both of them had katanas strapped on their waist and a halberd in their hands.

Naruto wanted to speak up but he knew what reaction he will get. So he let jounin handle the situation.

"My name is Wahoki. They are Kakashi Hatake, Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze, Sakura Haruno and Sasuke Uchiha, all from Konohagakure. We have mission in this area and would like to rent some rooms in the inn."

The guard with gray hair looked at them skeptically and said "We have a nuke-nin problem here, and though your hitai-ate doesn't have a slash how can we know you're not in disguise?"

Wahoki smiled "Well, if you tried really hard maybe you could remember me? Some years ago you asked me the same question, though instead of ninjas you had bandit problem. I also had this large scroll on my back."

After some moments of silence the second guard exclaimed "Yes! I remember you now. You also had this very sick look."

"Oh right! You also helped the chief on something. I remember now. Well, you can go in. I guess you know where the inn is, right?" the first guard asked, after receiving a nod he added "By the way, you're quite lucky because we were about to shut the gates for the night. Welcome to the Glass Village. I will inform Gaiko-sama about your arrival once we close the gate."

"Thanks."

As they were walking through the village, three genin were inspecting their surroundings. And they couldn't be more marveled at the feeling of peace in this village. It felt like you could just forget about anything and live happily here. All villagers were smiling and laughing as if they didn't even know about the threat outside.

Seeing the looks of genins, Wahoki explained "You feel it, right? The piece here." Getting the nods he continued "Do you know the history of this village?"

"Yes, a little from what Sakura told us. A long, long time ago some kind of mythical glass could be mined out. The village was built near the mine so miners could live closer to the mine and get to work faster. The glass mined out then could be used to make weapons and unlike steel, it was sharper and more durable. Something happened to the mine, either it collapsed or the glass ended AND collapsed. Those weapons, as well as glass, is long since lost or destroyed over the ages." Sasuke said.

"Yes, that's very close. The mine had another property though. The miners actually wanted to work there." Wahoki said.

"Wanted to work in the mine? It's first time in my life when I hear someone wanted to work in a mine. It was more a work for slaves or poor people, from what I've read." Sakura asked.

"Yes. The mine had a unique property, an aura if you like. It felt like what you feel now, but much more stronger. The time itself didn't go normally in the mine. It felt so peaceful there, so calm that 10 hours of work felt like 2 hours for the workers. Miners could work there for actual 30 hours without any food or water, because their body and mind would feel that only 6 hours has passed. The speed at which the glass was mined was unreal. It was like blessing for miners. But it was also a curse."

"A curse? Why?" Sakura asked.

Naruto answered in Wahoki's place "Because after the mine was mined out or it collapsed, the miners wanted to go in there, to work in there just because of this feeling at peace. They didn't want to leave that place and return to their horrible lives."

"Yes, very precise Naruto-san. They were addicted to the place. Over the ages this aura steadily lessened until it became on what you feel now. The time flows normally here, the feeling is not addictive, yet it is pleasant."

"How do you know all that?" Kakashi asked.

"The last time I was here I was like you - I marveled at the feeling so I asked around on what it is. I heard many stories and after putting them altogether I came to this story. Maybe some things are not true, but it's the best explanation I have."

_"So this is how it feels to be at peace, even though it's not real."_ Naruto thought. _"Is it how it felt, Kyuubi?"_

**_"Close, quite close, but still not the same. I don't quite remember the feeling because it happened a lot of ages ago, but I clearly remember it was a bit different. I'm going to sleep now, so don't wake me up."_ **Kyuubi said as he yawned and cut the link.

_"I see."_

"We're finally here." Wahoki said. Everyone looked at building in front of them. It was easily the largest building in the whole village. It had emerald color roof in shattered glass pattern and the whole building was made from dark green bricks. In front of the white door there were two large bushes with red flowers in them as well as green carpet where visitors could clean their feet.

"Wow. This place surely stands out." Sakura commented.

And so they entered and rented two rooms - one for Sakura, Sasuke and Naruto and the other for Kakashi and Wahoki. Thanks to Wahoki, they managed to get big, VIP rooms with numerous rooms for cheap price. Two jounin got a room with two large bedrooms, while genin got a room with three, but a smaller bedrooms. They immediately said good night to each other and went to sleep, because tomorrow would be long day.

* * *

**-Next day**

**With Sasuke-**

Three genin woke up early today, even earlier than jounin, washed their mouths, had a breakfast and got to work. It was a warm morning and many villagers were already opening their stores. Sasuke decided to test his luck and asked a nearby fruit vendor for information.

Remembering yesterdays' guards he asked "Excuse me, but can you tell me where I can find Gaiko's office?"

The vendor looked at the Sasuke and narrowed his eyes "Who are you, how did you got in and how do you know our chief's name?"

Sasuke sighed. The man clearly recognized him as a ninja so asking how he got in was just stupid. "My name is Sasuke Uchiha from Konohagakure. Yesterday me and my team arrived at the village and guards let us in. The guard then mentioned that he will inform their chief, Gaiko, about our arrival. So I'm searching for his office to discuss something. Even so, I'm a ninja and if I would like to do something to your chief, I would have found his office without your help to reduce the suspicion. I mean no harm to the chief or the village."

After moment of thinking vendor nodded his head "You speak the truth. Fine. The office is that way," he pointed in random direction "the building is on a small hill and you will immediately recognize it because it's built in the same design as the inn, where I suppose you're staying in."

Sasuke nodded "Thank you."

And so he walked in the direction the man showed. After 10 minutes of walking he finally was next to the Gaiko's office. It wasn't as big as the inn, but it indeed was built in the same design. So he walked in.

Right in front of the entrance there was a large desk. A women in her 20ies sat behind the desk and was working on some papers. Behind her there was a large archway leading to staircase.

_"Reception."_ Sasuke thought _"Just like in Konoha in Hokage's office."_

As Sasuke came closer to the desk, the woman spoke in pleasant tone "Welcome to Gaiko's office. Can I help you with something?" she then raised her head and seeing the hitai-ate narrowed her eyes and asked in dangerous tone "What is a ninja doing in our village?"

Sasuke raised an eyebrow and repeated "I'm Sasuke Uchiha from Konohagakure and I'm on mission in this area. The guard yesterday let us through and informed Gaiko about our arrival. I would like an audience with him." He was already sick of repeating it.

The woman relaxed a bit, got back to her paper work and quickly said "Gaiko-sama is busy now, come back later."

Sasuke was fed up already "You lied."

"What?" the woman hissed.

"I'm a ninja and I know how to detect lies. When you said you're busy, your heart skipped a beat, you broke the eye contact and said that he is busy faster than you were speaking before, in order to get it over with."

"How-" the woman continued, but was interrupted.

"Enough! Kaira, he is telling the truth. And next time before labeling me as busy, come and check if it's really true. For your punishment, you'll work on this weekend as well." came a voice from the stairs as Gaiko came down.

"Hai, Gaiko-sama." Kaira the secretary guilty said and returned to her work.

"I'm sorry for that, Sasuke-san. Come with me to my office please."

Sasuke nodded and came with the man to the office.

As they entered the office, Gaiko sat behind his desk and offered Sasuke to take the seat in front of him as well, which he gladly accepted.

"As you may already know my name is Gaiko and I'm this village's chief. I actually was going down to get some coffee when I heard Kaira arguing with someone. So I intervened. As I heard, you're on a mission here, right?"

"Yes."

"I see. Can I ask what this mission is about?"

"Unfortunately no. I'm not the leader of squad so I'm not allowed to speak about the mission to other people without his permission. Though I have some questions concerning the success of our mission and safety of your village. Can I ask them?"

Gaiko raised an eyebrow "Sure."

"What is your military strength?" Sasuke bluntly asked.

Gaiko didn't even know how to answer that question "Boy, do you know that you can't ask this question to village leader and to expect an answer?"

"I know. And I don't ask for specific numbers or ranks. What I mean is - in a case if village is attacked, can you defend yourselves?"

Now this made Gaiko interested "And why would you think my village could be attacked?"

Sasuke sighed. "Do you know of Orochimaru?"

Gaiko nodded "Yes. Even though I'm not a ninja, I still keep track of latest criminals from bingo books. He is S class nuke nin from Konoha. Quite dangerous."

"He never comes to a place without a reason. Orochimaru is here. He has a base in nearby forest and he settled there for unknown time. People tend to disappear where he is. Also, from what I know, large amounts of nuke ninjas started to gather around the base."

"Those are troubling news indeed. I presume your mission has something to do with him or his base, am I right?"

"Yes."

"I see. I'll tell you then about this village's military power. It has none."

"What?"

"It is a peaceful, small civilian village and we don't have any military power except for some trained warriors or retired samurai who works on guard duty or protects the village in a case of small bandit raid. And to be honest, for last 4 months a wandering girl, around your age, settled here and helped the village. The girl is quite skilled in ninja arts though she doesn't belong to any ninja village. For last 4 months she protected the village but soon she will move on for her next destination."

"Where is this girl now?"

"I gave her assignment to scout for the missing nin camp and get any information she could get. I would then act on the received information."

"When will she return? And could you share some information she will get?"

"I don't know, maybe today, maybe tomorrow. And yes, I will share. It's not some kind of secret and I believe it will help both you and my village."

"I see. Thanks for sharing some information."

"I'll do anything for this village. That reminds me, can I request something?"

"What is it?" Sasuke asked.

"I know you will be busy with your mission, but can you please help to protect this village and do something about this nuke-nin problem? The girl I talked about, is skilled but she is not that good to take a lot of missing nin at once."

Sasuke thought about it. He wasn't a squad leader so he can't make decisions, but he also wanted to agree. "Sorry but I can't promise anything because I'm not a squad leader, though I will give my squad leader your request. Besides that, in order to complete our mission we will have to do something about these ninjas anyway." Sasuke then chuckled "And once my other teammate hears about this, my squad leader will have no other choice but to agree. I shall take my leave then."

Gaiko smiled "Thank you."

Sasuke stood up, but then remembered "Just another question." Gaiko nodded "Why everyone is so aggressive towards me?"

"It's not exactly towards you, but rather to ninjas altogether. They are civilians and it's quite expected that they are a bit afraid. Seeing a ninja in the village they are troubled, because they don't know either you are a honest, good ninja or disguised missing ninja."

"I see. I shall take my leave then." Sasuke said as he bowed and left the room. He got back to the entrance and Kaira asked "What did you wanted from him?"

"Firstly, it's not your business, secretary. Secondly, return to your work instead of reading magazines or else you might get another weekend of work." Sasuke replied and before Kaira could say something back, he was already gone.

* * *

**-With Naruto-**

"I have a specific task in nearby forest, so I need to go out of the village. I will be back in few hours time." Naruto said to the guards who asked why is he leaving village without his teammates.

"Okay. Be warned though, kid, these forests are filled with missing ninjas."

Naruto sighed "Stop calling me a kid."

"But, you're like 13 or 14..."

"Whatever." Naruto said. He didn't have time to argue about it. "Just let me through please."

And so the guards did. Naruto started a little jog towards the location of the base. Yesterday, before going to sleep, Wahoki gave him a map with nearby area and there was a big red cross over the area where the base should be.

After about 10 minutes of jogging, he was finally at forest's edge. After about 20 minutes of jogging he should be near the hidden base.

"So this is The Forest of Angel?" he muttered. _"Hm? Who's that?"_ he asked himself as he saw a white figure approaching him in fast pace. Naruto decided to wait a bit to see who it is.

It was actually a girl about his age. The girl had beautiful feather dress and she was holding a long bow which looked just like her dress - made of white feathers. The girl also had long, snow white hair. She was in a hurry and was running for long time, if her panting was any indication.

The girl was already close and for a second, they locked eyes. Deep brown stared into ocean blue and time slowed down for them.

_"Is that..." _Alicia thought.

_"...a girl..." _

_"... from my..."_

_"...dreams?" _Naruto finished their similar thoughts.

Still staring at each other, Alicia ran past Naruto towards the village as the time returned to normal pace.

_"Later. More important things to do."_ Both of them thought.

After about 10 minutes fast walking, Naruto was in the middle of forest and he finally noticed why it was called 'Forest of Angel'. White feather were scattered around the place. Actually, they were everywhere. The boy took of the feathers and realized that it's not entirely real.

"It's made from chakra. I wonder what effect it has." Naruto muttered.

**_"Kit, I feel medical chakra in it."_**

_"Medical chakra?"_

**_"Yes. Cut you finger or palm or whatever and place that thing over the cut. See what will happen."_**

Naruto did as he was told: he took a kunai and cut his palm open, then placed the feather on the cut. For some seconds nothing happened. Naruto was ready to throw the feather away, when suddenly the feather transformed into green chakra and sunk into his palm but to be more precise into his cut, instantly healing it. Briefly, he felt familiar chakra signature behind him and he turned around and stared into the forest, into the direction of that chakra.

**-Alicia-**

She was almost near the guards when she suddenly stopped and turned into direction of forest.

_"That chakra. So calm, so peaceful, so... pleasant and happy. So familiar. Was it that boy? If yes, is he really a boy from my dreams?"_ she wondered and continued to run towards the village. They didn't know it, but once again they stared at each other for a mere second.

**-Naruto-**

Shaking his head, he collected some feathers and placed them in his pocket. _"Wahoki will be interested."_

After about 15 more minutes of jogging he felt a lot of chakra signatures. _"Looks like it's missing-nin camp. If Wahoki's data is correct, then Orochimaru's base should be somewhere there."_

He decided to slow down and using all his stealth knowledge, got as close to the camp as he could. What he saw surprised him. There were about 30 missing-nin from different villages. A lot, lot more than he expected. He also saw some dead bodies with arrows in their hearts. Naruto raised an eyebrow_ "Arrows? Must be that girl with the bow."_

Some kind of bustling was going on in the camp. Decided to see what happens next, he waited.

He didn't have to wait long, only 8 or so minutes, when a tall man in a black cloak with red clouds walkout out from nearby _rock_. Yes rock, he literally walked out from a big boulder.

_"So that's the entrance into the base. Genjutsu, although weak."_

Sensing his vile chakra and smelling snakes, he recognized the man immediately.

_"Orochimaru."_ he hissed in his mind. _"Let's see what is he up to. And what's with the cloak?"_

"Orochimaru-sama." a random missing nin from Iwa addressed the man. "Someone was spying on us."

"For how long?" Orochimaru asked, clearly displeased.

"We don't know. We discovered her recently. It was a girl with a bow and we guess she's from the Glass Village. We tried to chase her down, but she did a powerful genjutsu and shot some of our men down. When we dispelled the illusion, she was already gone."

Orochimaru frowned. "Useless." he hissed and killed the man by stabbing him in the heart with a sword which appeared from his long sleeve. Naruto thought it's his legendary Kusanagi, but inspecting the sword closer, it wasn't.

_"Figures. He wouldn't kill weaklings with his most prized treasure."_

"Bring the dead man in, including this one." he said as he kicked just now killed Iwa ninja. The missing nin obeyed in fear and some ninjas carried the dead man in the base walking through the boulder. "Listen up weaklings. Plans have changed. We will attack the village in 2 days time. Failure is not an option." That said, Orochimaru left the scene and went back to his base.

_"Attack? This is bad news." _Naruto thought and silently walked away from the scene so he could use his chakra without being discovered.

He bit his thumb, did some handseals and whispered "_Kuchiyose no jutsu!_"

In a small cloud of smoke, six foxes appeared. Among them there were Yara and Yoru, his favorite scouting foxes. The other were two, red normal looking foxes and two black foxes with white tail tip.

"Naruto-sama." all of them saluted at the same time.

Naruto, already used to the suffix, said in serious tone "I'm on my first mission, so listen carefully. Yara, Yoru. Your task is to infiltrate Orochimaru's base and draw a map of the entire base. You're good for this task, because of your ability to multiply. Kiri, Muru." He addressed the black ones "You will go with Yara and Yoru into the base, but instead of scouting for area, your task is to spy on Orochimaru. What is he doing, when and where is he going. When Yara and Yoru has completed the map, work with them to coordinate man's routes around the base and mark important places on the map. It would be great if you could find man's quarters, where he sleeps or holds his documents or records. Varu, Baru." he addressed the red foxes. He was amazed how foxes in one team had similar, if not rhyming names. "Your task is to spy on missing-nin camp just outside the base. Orochimaru mentioned some kind off attack, so I want you to eavesdrop conversations, maybe steal some plans or something that might be useful and what will tell us more about his attack. Both of you are sensor type scouts, so it would be cool if you could estimate the power of those ninjas. Any questions?"

The foxes shook their heads.

"Good. The base is north from here. You have to do everything I asked until tomorrow's noon. Sorry, I can't give you more time because some kind of attack is going to happen in 2 days time. Do you have enough ink and paper sealed in your fur?" receiving a nod he continued "Okay, be safe. Go!" Naruto said, and foxes ran in base's direction.

"Success of our mission now depends on the information I can get." the blonde muttered.

**_"Foxes. Information which foxes can get."_**

_"Yeah but Kakashi and Wahoki doesn't need to know that. To them, I got the information, although I really appreciate foxes' help."_

* * *

**-Sakura-**

Sakura was walking around town, enjoying the day. She already asked some people for information or rumors, but didn't get anything interesting. So she decided to actually look for some shops or places where she could get something useful.

After some time, she noticed a weapon shop. It looked just like all the other building in tows, except there was a large sign board which said "**Fuki's weapons!**"

Sakura got interested and entered and looked around. The shop was rather small, but it had a wide selection of different weapons: katana, swords, maces, staffs, even spears and bows, which Sakura rarely saw in her village. She didn't notice any kunai or shuriken though.

"Welcome. How can I help you today?" she heard from a counter.

Turning around, Sakura saw a women in her, maybe, mid 30ies. She had brown hair kept in a ponytail and wore simple, brown, short-sleeved blouse and a skirt.

"Yes, actually. I'm a ninja from Konoha and I have a mission around here. Just wanted to ask some questions."

"Oh a ninja." the women joyfully exclaimed "I'll assist as best as I can."

"Thanks. Firstly, what is weapon shop doing in a civilian village?" Sakura asked, quite interested.

"Well, we have guards here and some retired samurai. They need weapons, right? Sometimes a wanderer or weapon collector comes to our village and buys something. It's not a flourishing business though, but quite enough to feed family."

"Why don't you sell kunai or shuriken then? I think there are some ninja wanderers who come here to restock supplies."

"Well, they are expensive on their own and these ninjas are quite rare. Our village is not listed in new maps for some reasons, so we don't get enough customers."

"I see. Well, now with serious matters." Sakura said "I heard that some months ago you had serious problems with bandits. What happened?"

"Oh, that's a famous story. The bandit raid just begun and managed to get into the city. Guards had trouble defending the main square and some villagers had already died and a lot were injured. Then, an angel descended from the sky... it was beautiful. Like heavens themselves passed judgement on the sinful: light shot from her bow, burning the bandits and feathers rained from the sky, transforming in some kind of green energy or whatever as they fell, healing the injured. From that day forth, survived bandits ran in fear and she became our guardian. She says that soon she will leave, but the village will always remember her as 'the Angel'."

"Angel?" Sakura doubtfully asked. Yes the story sounded amazing, but... doubtful.

"I know that's it's hard to believe, but I saw it with my own eyes. I was one of the injured. She had long dress made from feathers, bow made from feathers and one, large wing. Unfortunately, after the raid ended, she fell into the coma for 3 days. No one knows the reasons."

"Okay. That's interesting." Sakura thought. "What about Forest of Angel? Is it named after this angel?"

"Alicia. Angel's name is Alicia Tsukiko."

_"Tsukiko? I heard it somewhere before."_

"Alicia goes to train there. After some period of time, villagers, who goes to that forest to hunt or collect some herbs and berries, noticed white feathers scattered around. Since that day, we named it Forest of Angel."

"Interesting." Sakura said, meanwhile thinking _"In other words, I guess this Alicia has some sort of bloodline and she trains in the forest. Maybe those feathers or angelic features is the result of her bloodline? And that coma... to heal so much people at once while at the same time fighting... it must be severe chakra exhaustion."_ she then asked"You said she still lives here?"

"Yes. I don't know where exactly, but she's still in the village. She helps the villagers by healing some injuries and by warding off bandits. But lately, another problem raised."

"What problem?"

"Nuke-nin." the women answered "Actually a lot of them. They have settled in the Forest of Angel, most likely planning something nasty. Some days ago Alicia went to investigate. She should be back today or tomorrow. Although Alicia is very strong, she said she can't take on so many missing ninjas at once. She said that once she will return, they will need to ask for reinforcement. Luckily you're here and something can be arranged."

_"So this Alicia person is not as powerful as she sounds at the beginning."_ Sakura thought "Thanks for the information. If there really will be a serious problem, village's chief will contact us. My other teammate went to investigate that area as well, so maybe we could share and compare our information tomorrow and act accordingly. Is there any fresh rumors?"

"Hmm. Actually there is. Two rumors actually. Recently, many started to talk about a possible attack on the village. They say that missing ninjas don't usually gang together in such groups without reason and that a powerful man stands behind it. Others talk that Gaiko-sama, our leader, has found a large remnant of glass ore."

Sakura widened her eyes "Glass ore?"

"Seeing your reaction, you must know some history of this village, right?"

"Yeah. It should be very valuable."

"It should. But it is just that - a rumor. Though I don't even know how it started to spread. These are the most fresh rumors and information you can find in this village."

"Thank you then a lot. It will save me from going to others shops." Sakura said.

"You're welcome! Maybe you want to buy something?" woman asked.

"I would love to buy some shuriken or kunai, but unfortunately you don't have any. And I'm not quite interested in weapons. Though bows are quite interesting. I've never seen ninjas using them."

"Yeah, samurai mostly use them. You have your kunai and shuriken so you don't need a bow and arrows."

"Makes sense. Bye then!"

"Bye! Come back later with your teammates. Maybe they will be interested." the women said as Sakura left the shop.

_"Well then. My task is done. It is going to be evening soon, so it's time to return. I hope guys are back as well."_

After some minutes of walking, she heard some voices up ahead.

"...what's the hurry? Is everything alright?" someone loudly asked.

Sakura then noticed a beautiful girl running in her direction. "Sorry, I need to report these news to Gaiko!"

_"Wait."_ Sakura thought as the girl was getting closer_ "Feather dress, check. Feather bow, check. Is it Alicia? She is no older than me!"_

Alicia ran past Sakura, but still noticed the hitai-ate_ "Another ninja? I'll ask Gaiko."_

_"She had troubled face. Looks like we will receive a message from Gaiko tonight." _Sakura thought and continued her way to the inn.

* * *

**-Later that evening-**

Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, Wahoki and Kakashi were in jounin room, because it was a bit bigger. Sasuke was first to arrive back, then Sakura and then Naruto. And they were shocked because apparently, both jounin did nothing. Well, when Sasuke arrived, Kakashi was reading his smut and Wahoki was sleeping. When asked why didn't they do anything, Kakashi shrugged and answered "Well, I thought you have everything under control."

Besides that, they were now discussing what they learnt, though Kakashi was bit confused about Naruto.

"So fast already? I thought you'll need a day or two."

"Don't worry Kakashi, tomorrow by noon I will receive the info."

"Receive?" Kakashi was even more confused.

"Just let it go, Kakashi-sensei. He has his ways. Lets discuss what others have found out." Sakura said. "Sasuke, want to start?"

Sasuke nodded "Basically, village doesn't have any military power. Some retired samurai and warriors decent to work as guards and protect the village from small bandit raids. About 4 months ago a wandering kunoichi from unknown village settled here and helps the villagers. Right now, she is on scouting assignment outside the village in missing ninja camp. She will return today or tomorrow and Gaiko agreed to share information so help us and this village."

Naruto raised an eyebrow "A girl?"

"Yes. The chief didn't give any specifics though. He only said she doesn't belong to any ninja village and is around our age. What do you have, Naruto?"

"I will have more data about the base tomorrow. But there are other interesting things I discovered. Firstly, when I was at the forest's edge I met a girl. Well not exactly met. She was in a hurry but... I have the feeling like I know her. It's even possible that she is the girl from my dreams."

"From you dreams?" Wahoki re-asked.

"Long story." Sasuke said. "Continue."

"She had a feather dress and feather-like bow, long snow white hair and deep brown eyes. Quite beautiful." Sakura rolled her eyes. "The most strangest part is that she recognized me as well. Mysterious, but lets continue. After I went deeper into the forest, I saw the feather scattered around. The ones Wahoki was talking about." Naruto reached his pouch and gave everyone collected feathers. "They, as you may noticed already, are made from medical chakra. Cut you palm and place feather on the cut."

Sasuke and Sakura hesitated, but Kakashi did as told. He was amazed. "Wow..."

"Yeah, I thought the same."

"How did you found that out?" Wahoki asked "I mean, it's easy to recognize the chakra, but how did you know how it works?"

"Lets say I was quite lucky." Naruto sheepishly said "Anyway. Then I found the base. Around the base there were 30 or so missing ninjas from various villages."

"So many?" Wahoki widened his eyes. "Did you found out their ranks or any familiar faces?"

"I'm working on that." Naruto replied.

_"Kage Bunshin?"_ Kakashi wondered.

"Anyway, some ninjas were killed by arrow in their hearts. Must be that girl. Then, Orochimaru arrived on scene. He had strange cloak."

"What do you mean?" Sakura curiously asked.

"Black cloak with red clouds. Strange but I don't think it has any importance. So, the girl you talked about, Sasuke, was the girl I met. Those ninjas discovered this girl and she fled, by using some kind genjutsu and shooting some ninjas down. Orochimaru then mentioned that plans has been changed and attack will happen sooner. Two days from now. Unfortunately, he didn't mention any details."

"Attack? Do you have more info on it?" Wahoki asked.

"No. But I will have tomorrow, trust me. And that's all for me. What do you have, Sakura?"

"I saw the girl too. Feather dress and feather like bow. Apparently her name is Alicia Tsukiko, if I'm not mistaken. Have you heard the story about an angel?"

They shook their heads.

"I'll try to keep it brief: some months ago there was a large bandit raid on the village and bandits were already inside, advancing into the main square. Guards had trouble keeping them at bay. Some villagers were already killed and many were injured. Then, as the person I asked says, 'one winged angel descended from heavens and shot the sinful while healing the villagers'. After that, she fell in coma for 3 days. When she awoke, she became this village's guardian. The forest is called as it is, because this Alicia trains there. From what I suspect, her wings should be some kind of bloodline and that coma was actually severe chakra exhaustion. In forest, she trains her techniques, resulting in scattered feathers."

"Wow." Naruto said "Sounds more like legend than recent events. And according to that information, it should be the same girl what Sasuke was talking about, seeing how both of them appeared some months ago."

"Yeah. I thought she made it up, but seeing Alicia in person changed my views. Anyway, I also got some rumors. One of the rumors, which is now confirmed, is that nuke-nin plans to attack and someone powerful is standing behind it. Another rumor, which started to spread only recently, is that Gaiko has found the a large glass ore."

"Glass ore?" Kakashi asked.

"Remember what we told you about the village's history?" Sakura asked. Then Kakashi realized it and widened his eyes. "It's only a rumor though."

"So what are we going to do now?" Sasuke asked.

"We-" Kakashi started but was interrupted by a knock in the door.

Wahoki stood up and opened the doors. A man from reception was there "I have a message from Gaiko. He requested your audience at his office."

Everyone looked at each other and left the inn.

"I wonder what he wants." Sasuke thought out loud.

* * *

**-Gaiko's office-**

"Ahh, good, you're here." Gaiko started. "Can you introduce yourselves please?"

"Sasuke Uchiha."

"Sakura Haruno."

"Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze."

"Kakashi Hatake."

"Wahoki. Just Wahoki."

_"Badass."_ Sasuke thought.

"I see. Nice to meet you. I'm Gaiko, chief and leader of this small village. Did Sasuke-san told you about my scout in the forest?"

"Yes." Sakura said "Is this scout actually Alicia Tsukiko? So called 'angel who descended from heaven'?"

Gaiko widened his eyes a bit. "How do you know?"

Kakashi answered that question "Well, Sasuke here wasn't the only one with the task to get information. This Alicia person is quite interesting."

Gaiko sighed "Yes, the scout was actually her. But where this 'descended from heaven' came from?"

"One of the shop owners told me the story of bandit raid some months ago." Sakura said.

"I see. There are many versions of this story, one where she descended from the heavens, other where she appeared from no where in rain of righteous light, and the other where she tore the skies apart with her righteous anger. And so on, so on." Gaiko said, "But lets get back to business. Alicia has gathered an information that bandits plan to attack this village in one weeks time-"

"Sorry to interrupt you, Gaiko-sama, but actually in two days time." Naruto declared.

"What?" Gaiko shouted. "But Alicia said after one week!"

"Yes, that was _before_ she got discovered. The man behind it all, Orochimaru, changed the plans. I think he didn't want any reinforcements to arrive so he decided to do his plans faster." Wahoki said.

Gaiko started to walk around the room, deep in thoughts "Troubling news. Troubling new indeed." He then stopped and looked at the group with defeated eyes "Please. Please help us! We don't have anymore time to send for reinforcements. Please help us protect the peace of this village!"

A silence came over the room and Gaiko became more and more depressed.

"We will." Naruto declared "We will protect the peace of this village." his team and Wahoki looked at him wide eyed. It was Orochimaru AND 30 or so ninjas. They could take care of simple ninjas, but not Orochimaru. And knowing that man, he will have some tricky thing in his mind. "Tomorrow by noon I will get more information on attack and Orochimaru's plans. We will act according on them."

Seeing how determined Naruto was, Sasuke smirked. "Well, I will explore the village surroundings to determine if we can strengthen defenses."

"Boys..." Sakura sighed "I will then warn the villagers and think of some kind of shelter to shield villagers from battle. With your permission of course Gaiko-sama."

Kakashi sighed "Well actually it was my decision, but seeing how determined my team is, I'll agree as well. Protecting innocent people is ninja's duty after all. I'll think of something useful to do."

Gaiko didn't know what to say. "I... Thank you! Thank you so much! I will never forget it. Oh, there's another thing I forgot to mention."

"What is it?" Kakashi asked.

"Alicia said that some bandits talked about some kind of secret weapon Orochimaru is going to use. Not sure what that meant."

"Thanks for mentioning it." Kakashi said. "We shall take our leave then. You know, prepare for tomorrow."

"Of course. Tomorrow I will help Sakura-san to warn the people."

They left the building and went back to inn in silence, until Wahoki couldn't take it anymore.

"Sorry, Kakashi-san, but that wasn't my mission." he said with guilt in his eyes "It's too dangerous so I'm not helping."

Kakashi nodded understanding him "What about the base?"

"Just... forget it. I will leave tomorrow."

"No." Naruto said.

"What?"

"You will no leave, because we will complete your mission. Tomorrow." Naruto looked at Wahoki "I will get needed information tomorrow by noon and tomorrow night we will infiltrate the base. Believe me, the information is very vital if we want to succeed at getting documents or journals."

"But-"

"Just believe in him. It will be easier than arguing." Sasuke said.

After some thinking, Wahoki replied "Very well. I will stay here for one more day to complete our original mission. But I'm not staying here for this village's protection." And he walked off.

"What's wrong with him?" Sakura asked.

"I don't know, but it's indeed is not his business. Maybe he just wants to get back home without witnessing bloodshed. I'm not sure we made the right decision either." Kakashi said.

"It is the right decision. If we would leave them, all of them would die. All innocent children, women and men slaughtered like some pigs, tortured or even turned into slaves. No. If we leave them, I could never forget it. If we leave them, I could never FORGIVE myself." Naruto said with determination and... sadness in his eyes. Why's there always sadness in his eyes, Kakashi wondered.

"I'm kind of in the same thoughts." Sasuke said as he looked into the sky, stared at the stars "I don't want to see another family, or village, or.. clan slaughtered. No... I don't want to _know_ that I could have helped them, but instead run. I never could forgive myself."

And so they walked in silence for some minutes until they finally reached the inn.

"Maybe we could ask for reinforcement?" Kakashi suggested.

Sakura shook her head. "No. There's no point: it will take about a day to message arrive to the village and Hokage processing the information. Another couple of days to arrange team and send them here. Though we can send a message and inform Hokage-sama about the situation."

"Yeah. So, what do we do now?" Naruto asked.

Kakashi sighed.

"We wait."

* * *

**END!**

**I really hope you liked the chapter and the mission. Tried to make something original.**

**IMPORTANT! I can't remember if I mentioned it before, but in my story Kumo didn't try to steal Hinata (Byakugan), which will leave a great impact on later chapters. I have another twist planned to explain why Neji has Fate complex and stick up in his ass. **

**Thanks for reading! And if you wonder what Alicia's bow looks like, visit my profile and find the link in my profile info. Shouldn't be hard to find.**

**'Till the next time then.**


	9. Chapter 8 Siege

Hey! Finally I'm updating, its been over a month, right? Sorry for the extra long wait. I discovered the wonders of Harry Potter fanfiction and couldn't stop reading. Those plot bunnies for HP fiction were annoying as hell as well. Wasn't in any mood to write my story. For that I apologize and to make up for the wait this chapter is almost thrice longer than I intended (originally this chapter was meant to be 10k words).

To answer some reviews:

**Opnbf**: lol thanks. I think you're going to be extra happy about this chapter because it's extra long *laugh*

**Root of Origin JRZTimeTravel**: I'm glad to get a feedback on my OC. She will have a big role in the plot but Naruto is still the main hero and character. Alicia is just going to help him along the way. As for her name, I wanted something english. I mean, she's a unique character in the story with her own background so I wanted to give something unique, something different from the Narutoverse. Besides, it is just a name anyway and almost all japanese names sounds the same so I wanted something different. Well it's in my opinion anyway.

**Manah Scarlet Shadowsong**: high5. I think the same. I didn't like how I started the story but now I think it's getting better.

**NinjaFang1331**: I know, right. Something epic.

**oneheart117**: umm, I'm confused here. I don't know if I should be either sad or happy about your review... Well. thanks for the review ^_^

**DivergenceMagic**: wow. such a feedback. I didn't think I'll get such a long review ever. I'll try to answer all the point you mentioned. Firstly, there will be a wave arc though it will be much more different. And I think many won't like what I'm planning to do with it. Secondly, your comparison of Hunter and Asura path. Firstly, I agree that Hunter path is weaker than Asura path. Secondly, **instead of durability and strength, Hunter path gives Naruto speed boost (I forgot to mention it so I'm doing it now. That's the reason why Naruto is so fast now)**. Thirdly, I don't really like the Asura path - shooting your own limbs which then regrows... No, I just don't like it. And you're right - now Hunter path seems weak and limited but as you said, there's more to that path that hasn't been stated or revealed yet. I'm aware that Hunter path is weak now and I'm going to make it equal in usefulness with Asura path. In this chapter there will be more Naruto's abilities revealed which seems useless and weak, but bare with me. If I'm creating something, then there's a good reason for it. About Deva path. Don't worry, I've thought about that too. Deva path is very limited to ST and BT. I'm going to expand the capabilities of Deva path. I already have some Deva abilities in mind (some of them are similar to what you suggested) which will be revealed in Wave mission (spoiler xD). About the pairings. Well, you'll have to wait and see. I have two possibilities in mind and I still haven't decided which I want. It depends on many things. As for the sub-elements. I agree, Naruto has very good chakra control and and he should be able to mix elements to get sub-elements. I'm not sure if I want to do to it because Naruto will be overpowered then (well, he is overpowered now as well but not that much xD). I don't want to make Naruto godlike. Well, not yet anyway *chuckle*

**StormyTempest**: I'm trying to make the story flow as fluently as I can (sequence of events) and I hope this chapter will be better than previous ones. Though I didn't get what you meant by 'limits on what people would do based from psychology'. Could you elaborate this please?

**IMPORTANT**! Now you can see the progress of the next chapter in my profile. Click on my profile and scroll down to the story section. There, under the name of the story, will be shown name of the next chapter, current word count and goal word count (goal word count can change though, like it did with this chapter *weak laugh*). There will also be small notes on the upcoming chapter (for example - 'sent to my beta')

**Okay, enough ranting. On with the story! Finally.**

* * *

**Chapter 8**

**Siege**

"Hm. So they're finished?"

*chirp*chirp*

"Tell them to meet me at the spot where we parted ways yesterday."

*chirp*

"Thanks, you can go."

And the small bird flew away.

It was already noon the next day and team 7 sat in the jounin room and discussed their plans for the day. All the present jounin were really confused about what just happened - some moments ago, a small bird with a red chest knocked on the window. Kakashi paid it no mind until Naruto asked to open the window. Curious, Kakashi did as he was asked. And it surprised the jounin when Naruto raised his hand and the bird sat on it and started to chirp. And it was even more surprising when Naruto answered back, in human language. Now that the bird was gone, Kakashi asked the question which was on both Kakashi's and Wahoki's jounin minds.

"Naruto, you can understand birds?"

Naruto looked at Kakashi and answered "Yes. And not only birds. I understand all animals."

Kakashi and Wahoki widened their eyes "How?"

"Remember what I told you about the Rinnegan paths?"

Kakashi nodded, though Wahoki now was even more confused. Rinnegan? What was he talking about?

"It's another of my paths. It's called Animal Path. Originally, Animal Path was used to summon various creatures and animals into battle. You could summon any kind of animal and your only restraint was imagination."

"Imagination?" Kakashi asked. "How does that work? To summon something you need a contract with-" he was interrupted.

"Rinnegan. There's still a lot of mystery about it and that's one of them. As long as you imagine some kind of animal, you could summon it. Unfortunately, I have a different ability. My Animal Path allows me to connect with nature - I can understand animals, I can even make them to do something for me. I can also connect with the earth itself and use it to scout in large distances. That's why I call it Nature path."

Kakashi raised an eyebrow "Connect with the earth?"

"Yeah. I don't know how to explain it... I put my hand on the ground, concentrate, and then I can feel some kind of pulse... some kind of stream going through the earth. This path allows me to use this stream to see - I can easily predict how many ninjas are behind the wall and how strong their chakra is. But that's it. Talking with animals and feeling my surroundings. Nothing that could help in battle though, maybe I'll discover new abilities later."

"Such an interesting ability. I suppose that's exactly what you did yesterday - went to the forest and forced animals to gather information."

"Kind of yeah, but I didn't force them, I asked them if they could do it for me."

"Right."

"Wait. You want to say that Naruto-san here has the legendary Rinnegan?" Wahoki exclaimed.

"Yeah." Sakura answered. Wahoki fainted.

"I think we've finished discussing our course of action and can get to work." Naruto said and everyone, except Wahoki, nodded. "Let's go then."

* * *

**-****Naruto****-**

Naruto was now in the forest, in the spot where he left the foxes yesterday. After some minutes of patient waiting, six foxes appeared.

"Naruto-sama!" they all yipped in unison.

"Hey. Was your mission successful?"

Yara, the leader of these six foxes, answered "Yes. But it was very hard. Some of us almost got caught."

"Report."

Yara nodded. "My and Yoru's task to draw a map of the base was successful. There were some dead ends or rooms where we couldn't get in, but judging from Kiri's and Muru's reports, they are not important. The base itself is not big. We marked all the important places Orochimaru spends his time on the map here." A quiet 'poof' was heard and a scroll appeared on Yara'a back which Naruto took and unrolled. "Kiri and Muru will explain the marks."

Naruto looked into the scroll and was impressed. The base consisted of of many corridors and rooms, almost like a maze. There were some green, yellow and red circles as well as purple lines with arrows at the end. Above the lines and circles were written some numbers.

Muru nodded and gave his report. "It was hard to track Orochimaru. We only needed just one night to understand that he is a very paranoid man - with every step we followed him, he would suddenly turn around and stare into corridor as if he felt that someone was watching him. Every time we would watch what he was doing, he would stop and stare in our direction, not directly at us though. Anyway, we succeeded in our mission. The green circles are the rooms where nothing important or interesting was happening and where he spends less time. The yellow circles are the rooms and places which are worth investigating, you might find something useful there because Orochimaru went into those rooms several times. Such rooms are actually a prison and storage rooms."

"A prison?"

"Yes, Naruto-sama. There are around 5 - 10 prisoners. Mostly women and men aged around 30 - 40 though there are also some kids. I don't know when he managed to get them, but most of them are broken and would never be the person they were. Now, the red circles are the most interesting. There are only three. One, his laboratory, two, a room where he holds his experiments and three, his bedroom. Each room has a lot of papers and documents scattered on the tables. The yellow circles, as you can see, are all located in base's east wall, while the red ones are at the west wall, except his bedroom, which is far to the north, at the end of the base. The green ones are basically very close to the entrance."

"_A l__aboratory and a room where he holds his experiments. I expected that from Orochimaru..._" Naruto thought, "I see. What about these purple lines and numbers?"

This time, Kiri answered. "Those are the routes he takes. The number above the circles is how much time he spends in a room while the numbers above the lines are how long it takes him to move to another room."

"You even managed to fix the time?" Naruto was awed at the work the foxes did.

"Of course. As you can see in the map, the lines starts from his bedroom. He goes around the base, as showed on the map, and after approximately 3 hours, he gets back into his bedroom where he spends an hour writing some stuff. Then, he goes for another route around the base. He did that 3 times yesterday and once today. I'm pretty sure that's the route he takes each day."

Naruto nodded "It makes sense. First, he checks on his prisoners and chooses who should be his next experiment, then he goes into the storage room and picks something up for it. After that, he goes into the laboratory and does those experiments after which he brings the poor guy, or a girl, into the room where he holds his successful or failed experiments. Then, he goes into his bedroom and makes notes - what went wrong, what went good and what could be improved. He comes up with something new and he goes for a new prisoner leading to another route. Did he leave his base at least once?"

"Yes. He left just before he went to sleep for some minutes. Varu and Baru can tell more."

"I see. Are there any other entrances or exits in the base? So far I see only one."

Yara lowered his head. "All bases should have a secret exit but we couldn't find any in this one. Sorry, Naruto-sama."

Naruto smiled and petted Yara's head. "That's quite alright. You did a great job." He then turned to the remaining two foxes, "Varu and Baru, what do you have?"

"All the ninjas in the area are there by force and they don't really like to be in presence of other ninja. They are there because of Orochimaru, and the nuke-nin are afraid of him so they won't leave." Varu said "They will attack tomorrow by 6 p.m. when the sun starts to go down. Half of the ninjas will attack the main gates while the other half will attack the rear. This way, they can get into the village faster and besiege it from both sides. By measuring their chakra, most of them are chunin level, while some are jounin level ninjas. Here is the scroll with all the details." Varu unsealed the scroll and gave it to Naruto.

"There's another thing though, Naruto-sama." Baru said. Naruto nodded and the fox continued, "While Varu scouted for information on the attack, I scouted for any other useful information from these ninja. Apparently, Orochimaru will test a new developed jutsu on the village. Some say it's a wide destruction jutsu, some say it's some kind of wide poison jutsu, while the others say he will summon something. Although these are only rumors, you can be certain - the snake man most probably is planning something. Here's the scroll with other trivial information which may be useful." the red fox unsealed his scroll and give it to Naruto. "Be careful, Naruto-sama!"

Naruto was awed. Just one day and these six small foxes managed to obtain so much information which may lead them to victory. Real scout foxes. "I don't even know what to say... Only one day and so much information."

Yara grinned "Say nothing. It's our job as scout foxes to scout for information. That's what we are best at."

Naruto smiled. "Thanks, guys. It's much appreciated. I will treat you to some BBQ once we return. Consider it as thanks from me."

All the foxes joyfully yipped. "BBQ! That's what we love the most about you, Naruto-sama! You always treat us!" Baru exclaimed.

Naruto laughed a bit. "I'm just kind to those I care about. Anyway, you can return."

The foxes said the last 'bye' and disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"Right, gonna head back to the village and report on the foxes's findings. But first..." Naruto muttered.

Naruto activated his Rinnegan and slammed his palm into the forest floor and quietly said, "**River of Nature!**" His surroundings turned black and the only thing he could see was how blue and green tendrils arose around him from the ground. Then, they started to stretch and Naruto could see everything as they flew by - small ants southeast from him, all the leaves and feathers on the ground, trees and bushes started to appear, and some birds on the trees. But it wasn't what he was looking for. After some moments, he finally found it. "_That's it..._" Naruto thought. "_1... 5... 13... 18... 22... 23... 29... 32... 36...__36 __ninja __around __the __base __and __judging __by __their __chakra __levels__, __some __of __them __might __be __jounin __level__. __So __many __of __them__... __When __did __Orochimaru __manage __to __bring __them __all __here__? __Lets __see __if __the __snake __is __in __its __lair.__Hmm__, __according __to __foxes' __information,__he __should __be __in __the __prison __room __now.__"_

He commanded some tendrils to go into the base. After some moments, they finally found what they were looking for. Orochimaru was in his base, not far from him were 6 persons - 2 men, 3 women and 1 boy around the age of 8. Orochimaru was standing in front of them and holding something in his hands. "_I see. So he is still in his base and follows the route Kiri talked about. Gotta get back and tell everyone!_"

And Naruto shut down the connection. Tendrils disappeared in green and blue mist and blackness reverted back to forest.

* * *

-**Later**-

It was almost evening and team 7, once again, sat in the jounin room. Naruto shared the maps, scrolls and information. Kakashi and Wahoki were surprised and awed. Animals could write and draw? Somehow, they started to doubt they were simple animals. Nevertheless, they now discussed how to invade Orochimaru's base.

"According to Naruto-san's information, we need to check these rooms: Storage room, laboratory, experiment storage room and Orochimaru's sleeping quarters." Wahoki said.

"What about the prison room?" Sakura asked "Naruto said there's still some people left there."

"We don't have time for that, they will only slow us down. We need to get in, find any useful information and get out as fast as possible."

Wahoki was right. They indeed didn't have time to save prisoners; it would only slow them down. Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura didn't like it, but they will have to deal with it.

"So what's the plan?" Sasuke asked.

"We will start in 6 p.m. According to Naruto's information it will be the time when Orochimaru is leaving his room and heading to the prison. I will somehow distract the ninjas around the base while all of you head into the base. Sasuke, you will go to the storage room and retrieve everything you deem worthy. Same for Naruto, who will go to the experiment storage room, Sakura will take care of the laboratory while Wahoki-san will head into Orochimaru's room." Kakashi answered. "Orochimaru will spend 10 minutes in the prison and 10 minutes walking from the prison to the storage room. The storage room is almost near the entrance, so Sasuke will have about 16 minutes to check the storage room and safely get out. It gives Sakura about 30 minutes, Naruto about 1 hour 20 minutes and Wahoki-san 1 hour 30 minutes. It should be plenty of time to check important rooms. Any questions?"

After some minutes of silence, Naruto spoke up. "I've got better plan, Kakashi."

Kakashi raised an eyebrow. "Go on."

"Not all of us needs to come in." Naruto took the map and pointed at the prison room which is located at the far right corner of the base. "As you said, at 6p.m. Orochimaru will be here. Sakura and me will lay a heavy genjutsu on the ninjas around the base, allowing me and Wahoki-san to get in. We will immediately go here," Naruto pointed at the laboratory which is at the left base's wall. "We will have w35 minutes to search the laboratory, copy any information and get to the next room here." Now he pointed at the experiment storage room which is located at the far left corner of the base. "We then will have about 50 minutes. We can use these 50 minutes to search the room and get to the next one, Orochimaru's room, here." the blonde pointed at the room which is located at the far wall of the base. "There, we will have another 30 minutes. After that is done, we run past the prison and storage room directly to the entrance and safely leave without being noticed."

Naruto took a breath. "The difference between my and Kakashi's plan is time and danger possibility. What I mean is: Kakashi's plan is to spread out and search all the rooms at the same time, resulting in less time spent in the base but it also greatly increases the chances of encountering Orochimaru. It also puts Kakashi in danger because there are 36 ninjas outside. Not to mention that if Orochimaru finds out something happened outside, he can easily change his route, thus ruining Kakashi's plan. In my plan, only 2 persons head in and watches each other's backs while searching for information."

Another minute of silence, until Kakashi spoke "Wow. Such a well thought out plan in just a minute. But what is this copying you mentioned?"

Naruto smirked. "It's a seal I created. It's quite difficult too. I write a large and difficult seal on the scroll, that scroll can then can be put on any document, book or another scroll. The scroll then changes form to that of the book or document it's placed on, keeping all the writing and pictures in it. It's extremely hard to spot the difference between the original and copied thing. It's much better than to take the original because if Orochimaru sees that something is missing, he can take advantage of that. For example, an enemy wrote in his plans that he will attack from the west. He notices that someone has stolen that information so he decides to take advantage from that and attack from the East instead. Results - while everyone sits in the west waiting to ambush an enemy, said enemy flanks them from behind because there was no defense in the east. You get what I am saying right?"

"Yes." Sasuke said. "If Orochimaru still has all the documents and nothing is being stolen, then he will act as he planned, while at the same time we know what he is planning. Genius."

Wahoki and Kakashi widened their eyes - it's a perfect scouting tool. "H-How?"

Naruto sighed "Jeez, you're jounin already. You should have known that the possibilities of Fuuinjutsu are endless. Endless! There's a drawback though. It takes some time to create them and some time to copy everything. To copy one book which has around 20 pages we will need about 7 minutes. The more pages it has, the more time it will need. I've prepared 3 such scrolls prior leaving the village and will prepare 2 more now."

After some thinking, Kakashi decided to agree with Naruto's plan.

"We'll do then, how Naruto says. He has a lot better and safer plan than I had. There's still a problem, though. Orochimaru can easily sense our chakra if we head into the base."

Naruto smirked again "I've thought about that too. I'll be right back." Naruto stood up and left the room.

"I wonder what he has in mind." Sakura murmured.

After some minutes, Naruto finally returned with some pieces of paper in his hands. Naruto handed it out to everyone. They were the size of an explosive tag, with a kanji for 'Suppress C." on it. Both jounin realized what it is.

"Ingenious." Wahoki said. "Completely block our chakra and no one will notice. Maximum, what Orochimaru will feel is an insect."

"What will I need to do?" Sasuke asked. To tell you the truth, he felt a bit left out.

"When me and Sakura places the genjutsu, Sakura will go back to the village and help to prepare their defenses for an attack. You, Sasuke, will stay outside and observe the missing ninja. If there's a sign that they've noticed the genjutsu, or something happens that might endanger us, inform me by using this." Naruto gave another slip of paper to Sasuke "You know how it works."

Sasuke nodded.

"Okay, now on to the next matter. Tomorrow's attack." Kakashi said.

"Whoa, wait a minute. It's not my business so I'll go out get and some fresh air. See you later tonight then." Wahoki said and left the room.

"Right." Kakashi continued "So they will attack from two sides - from south, where the main gate is, and from north. Both sides will have 18 ninjas. Any ideas?"

"I've looked for good places to set some traps. Behind the back wall of the village, which is exactly north from the gates, are some piles of logs. We can set explosive tags on them and once the enemy ninjas walks by, they will explode, hurting anyone nearby. Also, the explosion will launch the logs into the air which will then fall on the ninja's heads. It should take a couple of ninjas out." Sasuke said.

Kakashi nodded "That's a good plan. I've thought of one as well for those who will come from the south. I will set some explosive tags on the bridge and once the ninjas set their feet on it, I'll detonate them, immediately killing some of them, the rest of them will fall in the water. While they are disoriented, I'll use Raiton jutsu and electrocute everyone in water, killing them. Then we will take out anyone who survived."

"I see. Kakashi, once you use Raiton on water, get out from there and leave the rest for Sakura and Sasuke." Naruto said.

"Why?" Kakashi asked.

"And what about you, Naruto?" Sakura added.

"Don't forget about Orochimaru, Kakashi. You have the keenest eye of all of us and it would be very good if you could quickly check the whole village and spot anything out of place. We don't even know what Orochimaru is planning, though maybe we will find out something tonight. After you're done with checking the village, assist any of us who needs help. As for me, I will take on the ninjas coming from the north. Before you object, remember - I'm a one man army with my Kage Bunshin."

"He has a point, Kakashi. Me and Sakura can deal with some survivors, and he is strong enough to take on some surviving chunin ninjas at once. It would really be good if you could check the village after everything starts. Besides, It would be a real practice for us in a real situation." Sasuke said.

Kakashi thought about it, considered the cons and pros. Yes, they still don't know what Orochimaru was planning and if he stayed with the genin, then they can get back-stabbed by anything Orochimaru is planning, but at the same time they can finish much faster and assist Naruto or deal with the Orochimaru problem. Besides, not all ninjas will get caught in the traps. On the other hand, if he leaves the genin, he can check the village for Orochimaru. If only he knew what that man is planning. He didn't have any choice.

"Once again, I'll agree with Naruto, then. He and Sasuke have good points. Listen, here's what we will do. Sasuke and Sakura will hide behind the wall, and once I execute my trap, both of you will jump in and kill everyone who survived. Meanwhile, I'll check the village and if nothing is spotted, I'll assist Naruto. Got it?"

"Hai." the three genin said.

"Oh and by the way, what about that Alicia girl?" Kakashi asked.

Sakura answered her sensei's question "Today when I was with Gaiko, I asked what Alicia will do. He said that she is on another scouting mission near Taki, but once she returns tomorrow, she will assist us to the best of her abilities. Gaiko said she will be back before the attack, so there still will be time to tell her of our plans."

"I see." the one eyed man said. "Now go and prepare for our actual mission, Wahoki-san will be in command. While you are in the base, I'll prepare the traps."

"Hai." the genin answered again, and left the room.

"_It doesn't even feel like it's their first mission._" Kakashi thought.

* * *

**-****Later****-**

**-Not far from Orochimaru's base-**

It was almost 6 p.m. and team 7 with Wahoki were standing in a clearing not far from the base. It was time to execute their plan.

"Sakura." Naruto whispered and Sakura nodded.

Both of them bit their thumbs and touched each other so the cut connects. Naruto then stood behind the girl and placed his hands on her shoulder blades. Naruto closed his eyes and concentrated.

"Now!" Naruto whispered.

Without giving any answer, Sakura rapidly started to do a long set of hand seals. Naruto still seemed to be in deep concentration. Wahoki wondered what are they were doing. After 3 minutes, Sakura finally stopped on a horse seal and whispered **"****Force of Unchanging Reality!**" The air around them twisted a bit before returning to normal. Sakura sighed "It's done. We did this jutsu only 3 times and it still requires so much time and strength to perform."

"What did you do?" Wahoki asked.

"Naruto's genjutsu is basically non-existent, despite his very good chakra control, must be something to do with Kyuubi. While my genjutsu is excellent, my chakra is not strong enough to make strong, long, wide area genjutsu. So we found a compromise." Sakura explained "Basically, Naruto gives me some of his demonic chakra through the blood. I absolutely can't control demonic chakra so he helped me to control it while I morph it into demonic genjutsu chakra. That's why I did so many hand seals."

Wahoki raised an eyebrow "Is it possible to transfer demonic chakra to someone?"

"Well, we did some research and found out that no, it's not possible. Though there are exceptions such as Ginkaku and Kinkaku, the gold and silver brothers who absorbed Kyuubi's chakra by eating its meat. Me and Naruto assume that it has something to do with my Chishioton, seeing as Naruto can give me some of the demonic chakra through the blood. And for some reason it's not as harmful as everyone thinks, though its impossible for me to control, hence why Naruto helps." Sakura said.

Wahoki nodded, it made some sense after all. "What was that genjutsu?"

"Force of Unchanging Reality is a genjutsu me and Naruto developed. It is applied to an area and its users. I don't know how to explain what effect it has, but basically we're not here. Enemy ninjas won't see us and hear us, though they can still feel our chakra signatures if we are close enough so we need to use these chakra suppression tags. If we will interact with the surrounding world, like picking something up, it will look like it's rising on its own, though it will reduce the time of the genjutsu. Enemies won't see what we are doing, so this genjutsu is good for spying, assassination, getting past guards." Sakura explained.

"Quite a genjutsu. But why did you use demonic chakra instead of normal? It shouldn't take THAT much chakra to cast the genjutsu." Wahoki asked.

Naruto answered this time. "Because this genjutsu was supposed to be cast on a small area and on one or two enemy ninjas. And it is cast much, much faster. In this case, we're talking about 36 chuunin and maybe higher level ninjas and a huge area of effect. Sakura's chakra is not that strong yet."

"I think we wasted enough time explaining your jutsu." Sasuke said. "How much time 'till the genjutsu wears off?"

"Right. Actually, we used more chakra than usual so you have 2 hours to safely get in and out." Sakura said.

All three of them nodded and attached the chakra suppression tags to their chests. They felt how their power is drained.

"Man, I feel weak." Naruto commented. He also couldn't feel the connection to Kyuubi, which he always felt. Shaking these thought aside, he said, "Let's go, Wahoki-san."

The man nodded and both of them went towards the base's direction.

"Well, Sasuke, I gonna go back to the village and help Kakashi-sensei with the traps." Sakura said and went back to the village.

"Why do you continue to call him sensei?" Sasuke muttered. "_I've got the most boring task. Again.__"_ he thought. After a bit of thinking, he added "_Well, at least their safety depends on it. Yes, it's important as well._" Sasuke consoled himself and sat in the bushes, observing the nuke-nin camp. He sighed and waited.

* * *

**-****With Wahoki and Naruto****-**

They got into the base without any problems. It was funny to see that the missing ninjas didn't even notice them. Anyway, they were in the base, not far from the entrance and in front of them were three ways - one in front of them, on to the right and one to the left.

"Thank Kami we have a map. And thank Kami all the rooms we need are connected with one corridor. I wanna get out of here as fast as possible." Wahoki said.

"Yeah. This place is creepy." Naruto replied. "We need to turn right to get to the laboratory. Orochimaru should be in the prison room now, at the other end of the base."

And the place was creepy indeed. Dim light, long corridors with strange wave like patterns drawn on the walls, insects crawling on the ground and a dripping sound could be heard somewhere ahead.

After 7 minutes of fast walking, the duo finally reached the laboratory's room.

"It smells strange here." Naruto commented. The door was just like the walls but with a door handle on it. Naruto opened the door as quietly as he could and both he and Wahoki entered.

There were two tables at the centre of the room, those kind of laboratory tables which horror movies have in the villain's base. There was also a large lamp on the ceiling which illuminated the dark room. Naruto saw some blood around those tables. Creepy. There were also some half empty bookcases along the walls and a large table at the end of the room. There were some opened books, test tubes and some kind of large construct used in alchemy on the table. That construct had green and brown bubbling liquid in some of the bottles; there was also a small fire under one, tall bottle, filled with purple liquid.

"_I guess Orochimaru used that to mix something together._" Naruto thought.

"I'll check the table over there," Wahoki pointed at table Naruto was just observing "See if you can find something interesting around here."

"Hai."

Naruto went over to the bookcase and examined the books. Some of them were: 'History of Shinobi World', 'Alchemy for Experts', 'Human body' etc. Most of the books present were about science. Most of them looked old and tattered, though there was one book which looked quite new and judging by its name it didn't belong to this section of science. Hell, Naruto thought those kind of books should be banned from production at all.

"Snakes. Snakes are truly outrageous. They are truly, truly, _TRULY_ outrageous." Naruto read "_What the fuck? Orochi-pedo has fetish for snakes? Though it wouldn't be surprising._"

Naruto got curious and took the book out to see what is this book about. Just when he got out the book from the shelf, he heard a weak 'click' sound.

"Psst, Naruto-san." Wahoki said, trying not to shout. Naruto placed the book back and went to Wahoki to see what did he want. "What did you just do?" Wahoki asked as Naruto came closer.

"I just took this one weird book about outrageous snakes from the shelf. Why are you asking?"

Wahoki weirdly looked at Naruto and replied "You just opened a secret shelf under the table."

_"__So that's what this 'click' was...__"_ Naruto thought. "Something interesting in it?"

"Let's see..." Wahoki said and opened the shelf and saw that there's only one book in it. It looked more like a journal or diary than a book. Next to the book there was a small test tube with... something in it. Wahoki took the the journal and opened it at the last entry and read.

_"__... a complete failure. Though I think one of them survived. Nevertheless, I decided to continue these experiments and see where they will take me. For that I will need Shodaime's DNA cells which I can get only from Konoha. Luckily some weeks ago, some agents of Danzo, an old war hawk from Konoha, approached me with an interesting offer: Danzo will supply me with Shodaime's and Nidaime's DNA as well as some sharingan eyes and information on Konoha; in return he asked me to implant Shodaime's cells into his right arm to heal it and boost his energy and then implant some sharingan eyes, which he collected from the Uchiha massacre, into the right hand (if Shodaime's implant will be successful). It is a risky offer and experiment, but I need those cells and eyes! So I decided to agree. He already sent me the information, cells and some eyes. I will the keep eyes and cells at my other base where Kabuto now is. We will meet in private when the chuunin exams starts to implant Shodaime's cells in Danzo. I will do the experiments with simple people until then to boost the success rate. Maybe Danzo will be a useful ally for some time until...__"_

Both ninjas were shocked from what Wahoki just read. "Naruto-san. Copy this journal."

"Hai." Naruto said and got the appropriate scroll from his backpack. He then placed the scroll on the journal, bit his thumb and smeared some blood on the seal. Wahoki wanted to ask but Naruto answered, already knowing the question "Don't ask. I can't use my chakra here so I had to find another way to activate the seal. In this case, blood. Judging from the thickness of the journal, the scroll will need about 12 minutes."

Wahoki nodded. He then looked at the secret shelf again. "_A test tube... Could it be?_" Wahoki wondered and took the tube and placed it in his supply pouch which was attached to his waist. _"__I'll show it to Hokage-sama!_" "Now what should we do in the meantime?"

"I dunno." Naruto truthfully answered. "Let's see what else we can find here."

And so they searched the room for 12 more minutes and found nothing interesting except one ninjutsu scroll which Naruto copied using his Rinnegan. The jutsu involved creating snakes from chakra and launching them at enemy. It looked like the snakes are being summoned from the sleeve; the name of this jutsu is 'Sen'eijashu'. Naruto didn't like snakes, but he thought maybe instead of snakes he could create something else... for example foxes flying out from his sleeve or something else. It would look badass.

"It's done, Wahoki-san. Let's leave this room and head on to the next one."

They collected the copied journal, put the original one back into the secret shelf and closed it before they left the room and headed on to the next one.

* * *

**-****With Sakura****-**

"Ahh... it's finally done." Sakura sighed as she sat on the bench near a flower shop and relaxed.

When Sakura returned back to the village, Kakashi had done half the work already, and together they finished placing traps much quicker and now Sakura was enjoying her free time. She didn't even know what to do. Sasuke, Naruto and Wahoki were on the mission, Kakashi most probably in his room, reading his smut and doing hell knows what. Maybe she could train a bit to get ready for tomorrow?

Sakura stood up and went to the village's gates, planning to train outside the village. That was until she felt someone was following her.

"_It's definitely a ninja and this chakra... It feels so peaceful. Who migh__t that be?_" the girl thought. She didn't show any panic and continued to go to the village's gates at a normal pace. After a moment, she quickly hid behind the corner of one house and did some hand seals. "**Cloak!**" she whispered.

Instead of following Sakura behind the corner, the pursuer got on the roof and jumped down to the dark alley where Sakura was hiding. The pursuer got behind the girl, who was still near the corner, and put a kunai to Sakura's neck. The pursuer felt something was wrong, but it was too late already: the pursuer felt a pressure on his neck. He realized it was a kunai.

"Who are you and what did you want from me?" Sakura hissed. It was already pretty dark outside and shadows from the surrounding houses blocked the light. Sakura didn't see both the face of her pursuer and what he was dressed in.

The pursuer smirked and dissolved into a swirl of feathers, after which Sakura felt a kunai on her neck. The game of cat and mouse continues.

"_Wait. Feathers?_" Sakura thought.

The pursuer was ready to say something when suddenly he felt a kunai on his neck. Again. Then the Sakura in front of him poofed out of existence. "_Kage Bunshin! This girl is not weak like I thought._"

"*chuckle* Fine, fine. You got me, Sakura." the pursuer said. It was actually a girl. A young girl. "You can take your kunai off me."

Sakura narrowed her eyes "_A girl? Feathers? Is it that Alicia girl? Damn, it's too dark here to see her clothes. Gotta be sure._" she thought and said "Not so fast. I'll repeat: who are you and what did you want?"

The girl sighed. "I'm Alicia Tsukiko, just Alice for friends. Gaiko told me about you and your friends here. Just wanted to get acquainted with you. When I heard that one Sakura Haruno has a pink hair I thought she's a damn fan girl and can't do shit, so I decided to test you. Man, these fan girls are so annoying. Satisfied? Or do you want to look at my back some more?" Alicia said with a smirk.

"I can't see anything here anyway." Sakura muttered and removed the kunai.

"Jeez, you know Kage Bunshin and don't know that you can send chakra to your eyes." Alicia replied.

"Oh. I knew that, just forgot to actually do it." Sakura sheepishly said.

"Yeah, right." Alicia said with another smirk.

"_But I really knew it...__"_

"So. Let's go and take a walk around the village, talk about things, get to know each other better. Or do you prefer to stay here in this dark, secluded arch? You know, I might scream." Alice said.

"_What's with that attitude? Reminds me of Naruto some years ago._" Sakura thought. "No, let's take a walk. Let's go outside the village and I'll show you the traps and tell you about our plan."

"Traps? Plan?" Alicia asked.

"Didn't Gaiko tell you about us?"

"Well, he said that there are a few ninjas in this village, described how you look and that's it."

Sakura sighed as they left the arch and went towards the gate's direction. She asked "He has memory problems or what?"

She finally could see what Alicia was dressed in - high leather boots, a black lace skirt which reached her knees and was held in place with a blue belt, beautiful sky blue blouse, and black crossed laces around the arms. (_A/N: similar to Yuna's songstress costume, except for the drape thingy, blue thingies around the arm, that tail behind and the skirt is longer. Search in google to see what I am talking about._)

"To tell you the truth, yes. That old man has memory problems. Very often he forgets to give some details or forgets to say something at all." Alicia explained "So what about this plan and traps?"

"We... well Naruto, my other teammate-"

"_Naruto?_" Alicia thought. "_Is it really him?_"

"-decided to stay here and help you in the upcoming attack. We are his good friends and teammates so we agreed to stay and help as well. Besides that, me and my other team-mate, Sasuke, as well as Naruto just couldn't leave this village without even trying to help. What kind of ninjas would we be? Ninjas should protect people." Sakura said. "Anyway, the traps and the plan. Me and our sensei, Kakashi-"

* * *

**-****Back with Naruto and Wahoki****-**

Both Konoha ninjas in the base were near Orochimaru's private room. They found nothing interesting in the room where experiments were held. When both of them entered that room, they got sick. Naruto felt pity for poor human souls and bodies which were abused in the experiments.

_-__Flashback 10 minutes ago__-_

Naruto and Wahoki finally entered the room and the sight horrified them. The room consisted of 5 cells and in each cell was a minimum of one person, _if_ that could be called a person now.

Both women and men laid in their cells, staring at the ceiling with emotionless facial expressions, but with great pain and sadness in their eyes, their bodies mutilated and abused. Instead of left or right arms, they had vines with leaves, instead of a left or right leg they had a trunk, instead of a right or left ear they had a bush growing out.

"That's horrible." Naruto muttered.

"Indeed." Wahoki replied. "Never in my my life have I seen something like this. Let's search this room as fast as possible and leave."

"Yeah... When did Orochimaru manage to do so many experiments anyway?"

_-Flashback end-_

"Damn!" Wahoki said. "It's locked."

"Somehow I'm not surprised." Naruto said. "What are we going to do? There must be very important things in the room, if Orochimaru locked it up."

"I think I have some lockpicks..." Wahoki said as he searched for lock picks in his supply pouch. The man smiled "Yup, here they are. Now lets' see what can I do here. Cover my back."

Naruto nodded and stood behind Wahoki, who crouched and tried to pick the lock. Naruto looked left and right, trying to notice any movement or sound. After some moments, Naruto felt his wrist heating up. "_Must be Sasuke._" Naruto thought and got out a slip of paper from his pocket.

**-****With Sasuke****-**

Sasuke was still sitting in the bushes and observing the camp. He didn't take his eyes off them even once and some might say he didn't even blink since Naruto and Wahoki went in. And good thing he didn't, because he saw something suspicious.

"_Wait. What are these two doing?_" Sasuke thought when he saw two nuke-nin heading to the base's entrance. "_They are going in! Need to inform Naruto._"

Sasuke got out a brush and a slip of paper which Naruto gave only to him. Sasuke wrote on it

"_Naruto! Two nuke-nin just went into the base-_"

**-****Naruto and Wahoki****-**

"_-in slow pace. They didn't say anything, so I don't know their intentions. Be cautious and get out quickly before someone finds both of you!_" Naruto read and then thought "_Shit!_"

That was also the moment when he heard distant steps coming from his right, the direction of experiment cell room. Realizing who it was, and it wasn't those two ninjas because they couldn't get so far so quickly in slow pace, Naruto panicked "_Shit! Fuck!_" Naruto's thoughts colorfully explained the situation they were in.

"Wahoki-san, stop immediately. We have a problem." Naruto whispered.

Seeing Naruto's face, the man stopped and whispered back "What is it?"

"Listen. Can you hear it? Can you hear the steps from the direction of that experiment cell room?"

Wahoki hold his breath and concentrated on that spot. His eyes widened "Shit!" he hissed. "It's Orochimaru, right?"

Naruto nodded. "That's not the only problem."

"What else?"

"Sasuke said that two ninjas went into the base in slow pace, intentions unknown."

"Oh Kami. What are we going to do? If someone finds us then they can entirely change plans for tomorrow."

"Why should you care about tomorrow?"

"Listen, Naruto-san. I care for these people and want to help, but I'm tired of this. Tired of bloodshed. I just want to get back to Konoha and get some months of rest. But I really care for these people and I pray for your success."

Naruto nodded. So Kakashi was right about Wahoki. "I see. Orochimaru is heading from the right so let's hide behind that corner." Naruto pointed to the left "Hopefully Orochimaru won't go that far."

"Yeah, he is going to stop midway, turn around and go back. Sure." Wahoki said, but nevertheless they quietly ran to the left, trying to reach the corner before Orochimaru saw them in the dim light. They didn't have any other option anyway. They hid behind the corner and held their breaths to sound more quiet. They even tried to calm their heartbeats.

Both of them heard how the steps came closer and closer, almost as if he is going to turn around the corner any second now. They already saw the man's shadow coming in view, when suddenly, the man stopped.

"Damn those idiots. I told them not to enter." Orochimaru frowned. "Ku ku ku, it's their own fault for becoming my new experimental pets. Just need to take some things from my room." and the man turned around and went back from where he came. On Orochimaru's way back, Naruto and Wahoki heard a sound when someone is opening a door using keys. They assumed that Orochimaru went into the room. After some moments, they heard the door shutting, though they didn't hear Orochimaru locking it.

"_This is great luck!_" both Naruto and Wahoki thought. They sat behind the corner for 5 more minutes until the sound of Orochimaru's steps completely disappeared. Both Konoha ninjas let out the breath they held in for so long.

"This is good luck!" Wahoki quietly exclaimed and got out from the corner and went back to the doors.

"Yeah..." Naruto sighed as he followed Wahoki. He was all sweaty from the stress. "He even left the door open!"

"I wonder why he felt those ninjas but didn't feel us. Although chakra suppression tags blocks the use and flow of our chakra, sensors still should be able to sense us."

"I modified the seal a bit. This tag does not 'suppress' our chakra, it completely removes it. I know that a human dies if he runs out of chakra, but this seal literally removes the chakra from our system so we're mere insects to Orochimaru's sensors at the entrance. However, if we take the tags away, our chakra will completely return to us only after 10 or 15 minutes."

"I see. Anyway, stay outside the room in case Orochimaru returns." Wahoki whispered. "And give me the remaining scrolls please. How much are left?"

"4 of them."

"Okay. Warn me if someone comes."

"Hai." Naruto whispered back.

* * *

**-****With Sakura and Alicia****-**

"...and so that's the plan." Sakura finished her explanation as she and Alicia got closer to the gates. Sakura managed to show Alicia all the key places and traps they set up and explain what were they planning in such a short time, and now they were heading back to the village.

"Wow." Alice said. "Looks like you planned everything through."

"Yeah. Mostly Naruto thinks of a plan and Kakashi-sensei just adds something to it." Sakura said.

"You think this Naruto can take so many ninjas, which are chunin and higher, alone?" Alicia asked.

"I don't want to doubt him and I won't. I'm pretty sure he can. He is very strong, intelligent, his chakra reserves are monstrous and he can think of a deadly plan in just mere seconds. Sometimes I even think he took lessons from the Nara clan. He is the pure embodiment of the word 'genius'. In my opinion, anyway." Sakura truthfully answered. She really thought so but she didn't say it to Naruto.

"He must be pretty strong then... and hot!" Alicia giggled "Do you have the hots for him?"

"Huh?"

"You know... do you have crush on him?"

"What? No! I like the other guy on my team." Sakura answered. She didn't even know why she was saying such things to an almost complete stranger. It must be something about Alicia's aura, Sakura thought, so calm and friendly, so peaceful. Almost like Naruto has.

"You mean Sasuke?" Alicia asked and got a nod from Sakura. "Well, tell me at least if Naruto is hot or not!" she insisted.

Sakura blushed a bit. Only for a bit "Well, yeah. Both Naruto and Sasuke are hot. I mean... Sasuke is more hot than Naruto though sometimes Naruto looks more hot than Sasuke... especially with his new hairstyle. Oh Kami I'm so confused now! I still like Sasuke though!"

Alicia laughed. "Sure. Don't be surprised when all three of you find yourselves in one bed though. Naked."

Sakura heavily blushed at that statement. Naughty images of Naruto and Sasuke doing naughty things with her sprung into her head. She almost got a nosebleed, but being a girl, she controlled these kind of hormones. "S-Shut up! Let's change the topic!"

Alicia laughed even more at that. "Fine. What do you want to talk about?"

Getting back her composure, Sakura asked, "Where's your feather dress? I thought you always walk in it."

Alicia chuckled "Well, I'm a girl, right? I need to change my attire sometimes. I use that feather dress only when accepting missions or when on a mission or in battle. I use this dress on normal occasions, such as now."

"Oh, I see. Makes sense actually. I actually wanted to ask why did you return? Gaiko said you're on another scouting mission and will back tomorrow."

"I got there much faster than Gaiko expected. Used my bloodline for fast travel." Alicia explained.

"You flew?"

"I have materialized only one wing and can't properly fly yet. I can easily jump very high into the sky and glide in the air, meaning once I'm in the air, I can use my one wing to slowly descend and choose the direction where I want to descend. I can't fly higher or float in one place, I can't do complex maneuvers in the air. Yet." Alicia explained.

"Wow, it's still quite a bloodline to allow the materialization of physical wings. And what do you mean by 'yet'?" Sakura asked.

"I'm not going to tell it to you now." Alicia replied and Sakura felt a bit hurt because Alice still didn't trust her. Though it wasn't the case. "I'm too lazy, you know. I'll tell everything about my bloodline and abilities when all your team is present. Don't want to repeat myself more than once."

"Oh, okay." Sakura said as both girls finally approached the gates.

"Oh, hello Alicia-sama, Sakura-san." said the guard in blue armor. He was the only guard there today. "How was your walk around the village?"

"It was good, thank you." Alicia answered in a respectful tone.

"_Wow. How quickly she can change personalities._" Sakura thought. "_Some moments ago she was like a normal 14 year old girl, making jokes, discussing guys and stuff like that, but now she's like a real lady. Her voice almost demands respect. Is that why the guard said -sama?_" Sakura then remembered something "_Sometimes Naruto has the same voice when he talks to some ninja. Wait. How did this guard know my name? WAIT! Why -san?!_"

"**PEDO! HE SPIED ON US! SHANNARO!**" shouted Inner Sakura.

Sakura was horrified. Until she remembered that Wahoki introduced them and -san suffix was most probably because she was a ninja.

"**Tch. I wanted you to beat him to a bloody pulp... Bad luck today.**" Inner Sakura pouted.

"Are you alright, Sakura?" Alicia asked. "You look a bit pale."

"Y-Yeah, I'm alright." Sakura said.

"Go in girls, I'm going to close the gates for the night." Guard said.

"Wait!" Sakura shouted.

"What is it, Sakura-san?"

"There are Wahoki-san, Sasuke and Naruto in the forest doing their mission. They should be back in two hours time, don't close the gate, please."

"Yeah." Alicia added. "If you close the gates they might need to sleep on the ground, that way they will not get enough rest and won't be that effective tomorrow during an attack, resulting in dead civilians and a lost village." "_Well they could always walk past the wall using tree walking..._"

The guard looked horrified and quickly answered "O-Okay, I'll wait for them."

"Thanks." Sakura thanked the guard and went into the village with Alicia.

"So, have you heard the latest fashion-" and the girls resumed their girl talk.

* * *

**-Naruto and Wahoki-**

"Are you done yet?" Naruto asked.

It was almost 30 minutes since Wahoki entered the room and the man still hadn't left it.

"Almost. I still need to use 1 copying scroll and I can't decide what to copy. There's so much information here." Wahoki whispered out from the room. Indeed there was a lot of interesting journals, entries, scrolls and books which were worth copying. Wahoki couldn't decide which one from all of them to copy. "Wait, I think I found something!"

After a minute of silence, Wahoki exclaimed, almost shouted, "Oh Kami! This definitely needs to be copied!"

"What is it?"

"No time to explain but it involves invasion of Konoha."

Naruto raised an eyebrow "_Who is mad and stupid enough to invade Konoha?_" he thought.

"There's also some information on Sasuke-san."

Now this got Naruto's attention. "What?"

"It says that Orochimaru's spy, Kabuto, spied on Sasuke-san for some reasons. It says that Sasuke-san has no anger or hatred towards the village or his brother and that he is completely loyal to Konoha. It also says that Sasuke-san spends a lot of time with a blonde boy and pink haired girl and that it would be useless to try to convince Sasuke-san to betray Konoha. There might even be information on you and Sakura-san, it's in the same journal as the information on invasion."

Wahoki placed the last copying scroll on the journal and smeared some blood on it, starting the process.

"Should be around 10 - 12 minutes." Naruto whispered, still shocked.

"Right. Let's wait."

* * *

**-****Sakura and Alicia****-**

"And that's it." Alicia finished.

"Wow. Each country has their own fashion style..."

"Yeah. You learn a lot in your travels." Alicia then looked up into the sky. It was pretty late now. "Thanks for spending some time with me. I found another friend." Alice smiled. "It's pretty late so I think we should go to sleep now."

"Yeah... Just one more question for you, Alice."

"Hm?"

"This might be strange, but Naruto says that he sometimes sees someone like you in his dreams. Those dreams are rare, he says, but they feel real. He says that he feels how he is being watched from somewhere above. Later he sees a girl, with deep brown eyes, a beautiful face and long, white hair, who watches his last moments and shouts at him. It's strange how you look exactly like Naruto described. Do you know something about it?"

Alicia's eyes widened. "_It can't be!_"

"Are you alright? I hope I didn't ask something very private."

"Sakura! This guy, Naruto. Is he blonde and has whisker marks?"

"Yeah. Why?"

"Oh Kami! You see, I sometimes see a strange dream as well. In my dream, I'm observing a young boy, with short, golden hair and whisker marks. He is about four in the beginning. In my dream, I'm floating above a large village. I see how this boy is abused, how he is hated. I also see his strange shadow - as if nine tendrils or tails are coming out from it. Later, when he gets much older, I see how he faces a giant monster alone. He looks at me. He has strange, ripple pattern eyes and nine tails behind him. I shout for him to run, to hide but he doesn't hear me. Then, he dies from this red eyed monster in a huge, black fire. No one is around to even help him."

Sakura was speechless. It was exactly how Naruto described this dream. She asked "When was the last time you saw this dream?"

"2 years ago, at the end of October I think."

Sakura widened her eyes. Is it even possible? Could it be just coincidence? "Naruto saw the same dream, 2 years ago at the end of October as well. Could it be just a coincidence?"

Now Alicia was shocked. It couldn't be just a coincidence. It must be him. "Is this the boy I've been looking for my entire life? Is this the boy I have to help? Is this the boy the Goddess tried to tell me about?" she muttered, but Sakura heard it.

"What are you talking about?"

"S-Sorry. I have to go. See you t-tomorrow." Alicia quickly said and ran away.

"Strange. We live in mystical age indeed." Sakura muttered and went back to the inn where she was staying.

* * *

**-****Naruto and Wahoki****-**

"Is it done yet?" Naruto impatiently asked.

"Yes, almost. Just some minutes more." Wahoki replied.

Naruto then saw a small mouse coming his way. "This might be bad news..." Naruto muttered and crouched, awaiting when the mouse will come closer.

The mouse finally came closer and squeaked, though Naruto understood it. "Snake man is coming in this direction. He is walking at a slow pace. He said something about 'Forgot to take a tool for livers' and 'Forgot to lock the door'."

"Thanks. You can go." Naruto said as he shivered at he thought of what Orochimaru could do with them. "_Ugh, livers..._" "Wahoki-san, we have a problem. Orochimaru is coming this way." he said as the mouse ran way.

"Let him come. We're finished anyway. Let's skip the storage room and head straight to the exit."

Naruto nodded "What about prisoners?"

"I told you before - unfortunately we can't rescue them. They might blow our cover."

Naruto nodded again. He understood him perfectly, though he really didn't want to left them behind. Looks like this is one of those situations when there's nothing Naruto could do.

Wahoki finally left the room and closed the door. Both of them heard distant steps coming from the way Orochimaru left.

Wahoki signaled and both of them ran in the opposite direction, towards the exit, past the prison and storage room. Wahoki had 2 books in his left arm and 1 in his right, while Naruto had 1 in each hand.

The mission was a success.

* * *

**-****After 2 hours****-**

Naruto, Sasuke and Wahoki finally returned to the village. They were a bit surprised that the gates were still open and the guard explained that Sakura and Alicia asked for it. The trio nodded and made note in the back of their heads to thank the girls. The trio were quite dirty - Sasuke had dirt and leaves on his clothes, while Naruto and Wahoki had some spider webs and dust on their clothes and faces. They returned to the inn and entered the jounin room, where Kakashi and Sakura were already waiting for them.

"Yo." Kakashi greeted in his usually lazy tone. "So how was it?"

"Why are you still up? It's pretty late now." Sasuke asked.

"We decided to wait for you." Sakura answered and the raven haired boy nodded.

"So how was it?" Kakashi asked again.

"It was okay..." Naruto answered.

"Okay? We are the luckiest ninjas ever - we got into Orochimaru's base undetected while the man was in it, we retrieved important information and safely got out. That's not all... we almost got caught and lady luck saved us again!" Wahoki exclaimed.

"Tell us the details." Sakura pleaded.

"So we entered the base and faced three, scary passage ways. We were brave though and-" Naruto started off.

**-After 10 minutes-**

"Then we left the base through the entrance, met Sasuke-san and hurried back to the village." Wahoki finished.

"They were quite lucky. Again. Because of the genjutsu, which Naruto and Sakura applied, dispersed in 4 minutes after they got out."

"I see. It's a shame I couldn't participate in this 'adventure'." Kakashi lazily answered.

Both Sasuke and Naruto rolled their eyes "As if."

Kakashi hung his head. "My little cute genins don't believe me..."

"Anyway, did you set everything up for tomorrow?" Sasuke asked.

"Yeah." Sakura answered. "Everything's alright."

"I confirm. Both of us set all the traps which are ready for use. The gates will be shut tomorrow and all the villagers will be evacuated to the center of the village. We emptied some big shops there so people might hide. Then we wait." Kakashi added.

"And we also sent a message to the Hokage-sama informing him of our situation. I hope he won't be mad at us." Sakura said.

Naruto sighed "I see. I hope we will survive tomorrow."

Sakura them remembered something "Oh, right. Alicia returned to village."

This got Kakashi's attention "What? How do you know?"

"We actually met and spent about 1 or 2 hours talking, getting to know each other better. You can say we're friends now. She returned much faster than Gaiko thought. I already told her about the traps and plan, though I didn't say what she has to do tomorrow."

"I see. Well, I'll find her tomorrow and tell her what part she has in this raid. Now I think is time to go to bed. We need rest for tomorrow." Kakashi said.

"There's something else I wanted to say. It might be interesting, especially to you, Naruto."

Naruto got curious "Hm? What is it, Sakura?"

"I told Alicia about your dreams and that you think she is that girl. Guess what she said."

Naruto widened his eyes a bit "You told her what? Why did you tell that in the first place?"

Sakura felt a bit guilty "S-Sorry, Naruto. It's just that she really looked like the girl you described so I asked. Maybe that was just coincidence."

"And what did she say? Did she freak out?"

"No, quite the opposite. She was shocked, because she saw the same dream."

Now this got everyone's attention.

"The same dream?" Sasuke asked.

"Yeah. She is floating above the village, observing a young boy. This boy has short, blonde hair, three whisker marks on each cheek, and his shadow has 9 tendril like appendages which look like tails. Later, the same boy faces a giant red eyed monster. The boy looks at her and he has ripple pattern eyes. Your Rinnegan, Naruto. Alicia shouts, trying to reach you, saying to run or hide but you don't hear her. Then you die in black flames and no one is around to even help you."

Naruto was shocked "T-That's-"

"Your dream, right?" Sasuke finished.

Naruto nodded. "Just from another point of view. Did she say something else?"

"She then muttered something about 'is this the boy I have to help' or 'is this the boy the Goddess tried to show me'. Something along those lines. Do you know what Goddess she was talking about?"

"I'm not sure. But every time I see this dream, I feel like something attracts me to her, like I need to find her or something."

"Now this is getting quite mysterious." Kakashi said.

"Yeah." Wahoki added "A boy and a girl, who have never seen each other in life, see each other in one dream. Something unearthly attracts them and no one knows what exactly it is or the reason for it. Boy gets a mission and the girl suddenly pops up in the village where the boy has a mission. It can't be just a coincidence."

Awkward silence. Only the birds' chirping was heard outside the window.

"You know, guys, I'm gonna take a shower and go to sleep. I'll worry about it later. Maybe Alicia knows something." Naruto said "Goodnight." and he left the room.

Sakura and Sasuke nodded, said goodnight and left the room as well.

"I've got the feeling things will get interesting tomorrow." Kakashi said.

"Yeah." Wahoki replied "Anyway, I'll go to bed as well and I'll leave tomorrow once I wake up."

Kakashi nodded and both of them went to sleep.

"_This indeed will get interesting._" was Kakashi's last thought.

* * *

**-****Next morning****-**

The morning was a bit cooler than previous ones, but still pleasant: the sun was shining and birds were singing beautiful songs to team 7. Well, Naruto enjoyed it the most because he actually understood what the birds were singing. Even nature had a feeling about the upcoming battle, because birds were singing about brave warriors and innocent civilians, about evil monsters and dark armies. Sometimes Naruto wondered how the birds knows these songs in the first place. Do they get the lyrics from instinct or is there a Mother Nature who teaches music?

Team 7 also noticed the absence of Wahoki. Sakura wondered when he managed to leave. Kakashi said that he left early in the morning to get back to Konoha faster.

Team 7 and Kakashi had just left the inn and they didn't have any idea what to do until the raid.

"Hey, guys!" someone shouted from afar.

Everyone looked in the direction the voice came from and saw a girl in a black skirt and blue blouse running towards them.

"It's Alicia." Sakura said. Naruto tensed and everyone noticed that.

The girl finally stopped in front of them and panted slightly.

"Jeez. I was running for 10 minutes around the village, trying to find you. Then I remembered that you were staying in the inn." She said and finally looked at the group. "Yo, I'm Alicia Tsukiko. Nice to meet you."

Her gaze finally met Naruto's. Alicia and Naruto widened their eyes.

"You really are the boy/girl from my dreams!" They both muttered in unison.

Suddenly, the wind started to blow stronger, picking up dust and everyone's hair; a small force pushed Sasuke, Sakura and Kakashi a bit away from Alicia and Naruto who stayed still, looking into each other's eyes. Naruto's eyes transformed into his Rinnegan, and one wing sprouted out from Alicia's back in white light changing her attire to the feather dress. Everyone freaked out, except for Naruto and Alicia.

"Mysterious times indeed." Sakura said.

"What?" Kakashi asked.

"Never mind."

"What the hell is happening?" Sasuke shouted, trying to be louder than wind.

"I don't know but it looks like these two don't even notice it." Kakashi shouted back.

A spark appeared and floated mid-air between Naruto and Alicia. This spark became bigger and brighter, but then it exploded, creating a black dome around all the ninjas present. Strangely, no civilian was caught in this black dome.

They heard 4 voices: voice of a young girl and a boy, a woman and man sounding as one.

**The past...**

_The scenery changed in this black dome. The five ninjas stood in a plain field and they could see a village with tall towers in the distance. A man in a black cloak with orange hair fell on the ground, kunai and shurikens sticking in his body, dead. Next to him stood another man in the same black cloak, but with crimson hair, mourning the death of his comrade. He raised his head and his ripple pattern eyes were filled with tears and burning emotions of pain, hatred and sadness._

_"This world shall know my pain!" he shouted and the area nearby exploded in invisible force._

_Nearby, there was another man, but this one was dressed in purple robes, he had a long spear in his hands and huge, black wings behind. He had short, brown hair. There was also a woman in a pretty, pink and yellow dress and long, teal hair. The man pierced the woman's heart with his spear and the women shed her last tear. Her last words were "W-Why?... What... happened... t-to y-you?"_

_"This world is tainted and cursed! It shall know my rightful anger, starting from you! Don't worry - your sacrifice won't be for naught." The man answered and flew away._

**...the present...**

_The scenery changed again. It was now a small, happy village, similar to the Glass village, though a bit different. Everyone saw 8 figures approaching, each one had a black cloak with red clouds on it. Behind them were burning forests and clouds of smoke. Strange... creatures, they couldn't be called animals anymore, were following the 8 figures. After a moment, the village was destroyed, civilians killed by these strange creatures, whose appearance was hidden in shadows and clouds of smoke and flame. The man with orange hair and ripple pattern eyes appeared and said._

_"I will bring peace to this tainted land!"_

**...and the future...**

_Now the scenery changed to that of a huge, plain field. No grass, no water, no trees. Only craters and thousands of bloodied bodies laying around. A loud roar was heard. A huge monster appeared in their sight. It looked like it had 10 tails wildly swaying behind. On the top of the creature's head were two figures. One had eyes of the sharingan and the other had the same ripple pattern eyes. Another roar and a voice._

_"I have bought peace to the land. A new era can begin!"_

_The scenery changed back to that of the black dome._

**...is in your and your friend's hands.**

**But only you can stop them.**

**Stop him.**

**Stop it.**

**Many ordeals will await both of you.**

**Remember your past, live your present and create your own future.**

**Future where people will know peace.**

**Where people will know love.**

**Where people will know friendship.**

**Cleanse this world from the hatred it is filled with, with your pure souls. The future is in your hands; build it as you see fit. I won't guide you anymore and won't show you where to search, or say what to do anymore. Know that every choice you make will affect your surroundings. But know that I believe in you, for you are my chosen champions! This message was made when both of you were born and will play when you meet each other, when you gaze upon each other.**

**Remember, when the world will be about to die; when the world will face darkness it can't survive, you will see me. But I hope that moment won't come. Go, Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze, Alicia Tsukiko... my chosen ones, my priests, and create the future everyone will love! Heavens smile upon you and I will continue to watch your growth.**

With that, the voice disappeared along with the black dome, and the wind calmed down as well. Naruto's eyes returned to normal and Alicia's one wing faded out of existence. Alicia's attire also changed to what she wore before. Naruto and Alicia were shocked at what they just heard. Especially Naruto.

"What the hell was that?" Sakura now asked, completely shocked as everyone else.

"I think," Kakashi muttered "It was some kind of divine intervention."

Sasuke wanted to comment on how obvious Kakashi just sounded but decided against it. Instead he said, "Indeed. And this _message_ must be at least 13 years old. But still, it is... it felt... I don't even know how to describe it."

"Astonishing?" Sakura asked.

Sasuke nodded "Yes, you can say that. And who were all those people we saw? And that one guy with orange hair had a Rinnegan, though it looked different than Naruto's."

"That was," Naruto finally said "quite unexpected."

"Yeah." Alicia agreed. "I actually knew that sooner or later something like this will come up."

"How?" Naruto asked.

"It's the prophecy of my clan. You see, everyone in my clan who has the bloodline are called Valkyries. Both men and women. But it's very rare - valkyries were born once every 200 or 300 years, when the world was facing some kind of ordeal or danger. The last valkyrie born was about 1500 years ago. The one you just saw with black wings. He was an evil man which is quite surprising because he was a Valkyrie. The prophecy says that when the world will be at the brink of destruction, the last Valkyrie will be born; this Valkyrie will then help a man with sacred eyes to heal the land. Well, it has come to this - I'm the last member of my clan AND I have a bloodline, whereas you have these sacred eyes. So you are the man I need to help. Now we just need to figure out how to save this world and what are we actually saving it from." Alicia explained in a song-song voice as if everything is the way it should be. Looks like the girl accepted her destiny long time ago.

Naruto was at loss of words. The rest of team 7 watched everything in silence and interest. Save the world? It was too much, even for Naruto. "I.. I can't." he finally said.

"What?" Alicia retorted "Jeez, be a man and-"

She was cut off by Naruto's shouting, "Be a man? How can you say that? My life has just begun; I just became an official genin some days ago, I still haven't visited other countries, haven't even participated in the chunin exams, I've never been in a relationship, never kissed a girl and let's add to the list that I'm still a virgin! There's a lot of things I want to try out before thinking about saving the world or something like that! But you! You already visited a lot of countries, have seen a lot of stuff and gained a lot of knowledge. You're really beautiful and most probably you had a boyfriend and were in relationship in your life. You knew about this saving world shit for a long time and had enough time to think about it and accept it."

"..."

Silence overtook the area. Even civilians stopped and watched the scene. Actually, the whole village heard that voice, the message Naruto and Alicia got, though they didn't see anything. After some moments of silence, Naruto hung his head and apologized.

"Sorry... I just need some time to think about it and accept it."

Another moment of silence.

"Thank you." Alicia muttered.

"Huh?"

"Thank you." Alicia said louder. "No one ever called me beautiful before."

Naruto blushed a bit and smiled "You're welcome. People should say it more often to you because you really are beautiful."

Sakura resisted the urge to 'awww' at the scene before her, though Sasuke couldn't resist the roll of his eyes.

"And I've never been in relationship." Alicia continued "I've been to a lot of places and I've seen a lot of things, both terrible and happy, but I never stay in one place for too long. Just like you, Naruto, I want to try a lot of things, but people like us become adults very fast."

"People like... us?" Naruto re-asked.

"Yeah. People who are destined for great things. They don't have the privilege to enjoy their time because they try to make the world a better place. They spend all their lives helping people in need."

_"__Just like Yondaime...__"_ Kakashi sadly thought.

"I see in your eyes," Alicia said as she looked into Naruto's ocean blue eyes "That you know the truth, that you know what I am saying is the truth. Think about it. Why did YOU of all people get this gift from Kami? Why was Kyuubi was sealed in YOU? Because you are destined for great deeds."

"I... I do not believe in fate and that our destiny is inscribed in stone."

"I don't believe in it as well and I wasn't talking about that. Kami gave us the tools and we choose how to use them. We make our own destiny, our own future, but you can't deny that you feel something. You, just like me, feel that you're destined for great things. Though what these things are, is up to us."

"..." Naruto didn't know what to say, because deep within, he felt it. He really felt that he is destined for great things. Kyuubi... Kami gave Naruto a tool and... a friend who will teach him how to use this tool and who would always be with him and who will always help him.

"**A friend, huh? Is that how you see me? Is that how you always saw me, kit?****"** Kyuubi wondered in his thoughts within the mindscape, clearly hearing Naruto's own thoughts.

"How do you know all of this? You sound like an old lady, not a young girl." Naruto finally asked.

Kakashi shook his head in disapproval "_Never call a girl old..._"

A vein popped out on Alicia's temple "Thanks for mentioning my age. Anyway, as you said, I had a lot of time to think about it and I accepted it."

"I see." Naruto said. "Indeed, I feel that I'm destined for great things... helping people in need is one thing and saving the world is completely different."

"No one said the world needs your help right away. It's not falling into oblivion right before your eyes, after all. We just help people on the way, until the world needs us."

Naruto nodded and smiled. "Yeah, it's not like the world is gonna end any minute now. I will help people on the way and get stronger. Thanks, Alicia-san, I really needed this talk. Though it doesn't mean I completely accept it. Yet."

"Just Alice for friends, Naruto. And you're welcome." She then turned to Sasuke and Kakashi "So you're Sasuke Uchiha and Kakashi Hatake, right?" she asked, hoping to change the subject. Both of them nodded."Nice to meet ya. So, what are you up to? We have a party tonight, you know."

"Well, actually we were heading out of the village for some exercises. Maybe you should come with us and there you can tell us about your abilities." Kakashi said.

"Good idea." Alicia replied "I feel a bit uneasy with all this staring."

"Yeah." Sakura added and then laughed.

"What are you laughing at?" Sasuke asked.

"Oh boy... Seeing the way the villagers are looking at Naruto and Alicia, they can expect a shrine built in their honor."

Mentioned teens looked at Sakura with a deadpan expression. "I think we better go outside before they start to kneel before us." Alicia whispered.

Everyone nodded and left the village by jumping over the walls.

* * *

**-Kaze no Kuni border-**

The same day, somewhere near Kaze no Kuni border, was relatively small village. It wasn't big, really: just a few small houses with tattered roofs and dirty walls, and a single road through the entire village. It was much smaller than Glass Village. It was a hot day and a harsh, strong wind blew from the hot desert. The few villagers who lived in the village hid in their houses to survive the coming storm. Surprisingly, an old looking pub was open. Well, it actually was the only pub in the village anyway. What was even more surprising is that the pub, although old looking, was the safest place in the village. The pub's walls and roof were reinforced with strong steel which could survive a strong storm.

At this moment, the pub was half full, considering it was quite small for an ordinary pub. It is because of the small village: why build a big pub if there's only around 25 or so civilians in the village? People were sitting around tables in groups of twos or threes, drinking beer, sake and eating some food that the pub could offer. The pub was loud with chatter and laughter. It can't be said about the 2 persons sitting at the back corner of the pub, covered in shadows where their faces couldn't be seen. Both of them had black cloaks and straw hats. And even if their cloaks were black, they were a bit different: the shorter person's cloak was plain black, whereas the bit taller person's cloak was black with red clouds on it.

Akatsuki.

But Akatsuki always travelled in pairs and it was clear as a day that the shorter person wasn't from Akatsuki and wasn't the partner of the taller one. The place where they were sitting was also covered in a weak genjutsu. Everyone could see that someone was there, but no one could see their definite appearance and no one paid any attention to them. And why would civilians pay any attention to the two persons? Quite often, people in the pub could see various shady persons meeting and discussing things. People didn't say anything and just ignored these dark persons in order to stay away from trouble.

The taller person shifted in his seat and for a moment a lock of blond hair was seen in the sunlight before retreating back into the shadows.

"Careful, Deidara, someone might notice you." said the shorter person in an emotionless voice. Now revealed, Deidara merely grunted. The other person continued, "How did you manage to slip away from your partner? I thought you always travel in pairs."

"Hn. I have my ways." Deidara replied in an arrogant manner. "I'm one of the most trusted members in Akatsuki. I said I've got some business I have to take care of and no one asked any questions."

"I see. Who's your partner then?"

Deidara sipped some sake and then looked at the other person's eyes and searched for something, for any emotion. Finding nothing, Deidara diverted his gaze, looking at the full pub and sighed. "Still wearing that emotionless mask, Itachi?"

A faint smile appeared on Itachi's lips but he quickly hid it. Deidara noticed it though, but didn't say anything. "And you're still pretending to be an arrogant puppy who follows every order." Itachi calmly replied. He could swear he saw some twitching in Deidara's eyebrow. Itachi finally smiled, a true genuine smile "It's good to see you, old friend."

Deidara couldn't help but smile as well, although it looked like more like a grin than smile. It was some years now since they had last seen each other and it was really hard to arrange this meeting without any suspicion. "I would really like to catch up with you, Itachi, but my time is running short."

"Indeed it is." Itachi sighed. "Let's skip the pleasantries then and get straight to business. First, who are the members of Akatsuki and who's your partner? I know only some so I would like to know the rest."

"How much do you know?" Deidara asked as he looked out of the window.

"Not much." Itachi replied "I know about Kisame, you, Hidan and Kakuzu. I also know you've finally captured Sanbi."

Deidara nodded and smirked "Hn. You don't know much indeed." After brief silence, he continued "The members are: our leader, Pain and his right hand man... woman, Konan. Then there's me, Kisame, Hidan, Kakuzu, Zetsu, Orochimaru, Haori and a mysterious member Tobi. No one knows much about Tobi and it's very rare when he appears in the meetings, but I know that he works alone."

Itachi's eyes widened showing much more emotions than he did in past few years altogether. He hissed "Orochimaru? Haori Hyuuga?"

Deidara, already expecting such reaction, nodded. "Yeah. Orochimaru is paired with Kisame and the Hyuuga is paired with me. To be honest, he is quite a ruthless man and likes to torture victims before killing them." Deidara shuddered at the thought. Although Deidara has seen death and has killed many, seeing Haori in action was a bit frightening.

"Sounds like him. But why is he in Akatsuki? Kami only knows how much he already told to the leader. And Orochimaru? What purpose has he to side with Akatsuki? What can he gain from it?"

Deidara shrugged "I don't know, but knowing Orochimaru, something's going to happen. Something big. Oh and don't worry, although Haori is one of the most trusted member as well, he didn't reveal any Byakugan or Konoha secrets. Well, he did say something about Konoha but nothing of great importance."

Itachi nodded, a bit relieved "If he didn't spill any secrets about Byakugan or Konoha how come this Pain person trusts him so much?"

"I don't really know. I've asked the same question myself and it gives me a headache to think about it. Maybe Pain and Haori knows each other or something. Not sure. Hn."

"I see." Itachi replied. After some moments of comfortable silence and some sipping of cold sake, Itachi asked "What about this Tobi? And what happened to Sanbi?"

"No one knows much about him. I can only tell that he has an orange mask and can do some kind of teleportation jutsu. He rarely appears for meetings but he also is very trusted by Pain." Itachi raised an eyebrow but didn't say anything, allowing Deidara to continue. "As for the Sanbi... it actually was under our control for a long time."

Itachi was a bit surprised "Really? As far as I know Yagura, the Yondaime Mizukage was jinchuuriki of Sanbi. What happened?"

Deidara finally looked into Itachi's eyes. "Tobi's doing. As far as I know and as far as rumors go, Yagura had a kind soul and he was a good Mizukage. But then, at one moment, he started this kekkei genkai purge. I hope you know that."

Itachi nodded "Yes. I remember Kiri was a peaceful village until this purge. Who in their right state of mind would start something like that? I mean, Kiri just destroyed its own military force. Kirigakure is in civil war for some years already."

Deidara nodded and diverted his gaze again "It's because Tobi started to control him. I don't know how, but it has to be quite a powerful jutsu. Yagura was, I think, possessed is the right word. He didn't know what he was doing and I've also heard that sometimes Yagura started to speak with himself. Now, when Kirigakure's military force was so crippled, Tobi decided it's enough and extracted the Sanbi. It was a very long and tiring process because it's the first bijuu we extracted."

"I thought you need Ichibi in order to extract Nibi and Sanbi."

"Technically yes but we managed to extract Sanbi first. It was much harder and longer than it would be if we extracted Ichibi and Nibi first, but what's done is done."

Itachi narrowed his eyes "Why so suddenly?"

Deidara shrugged his shoulders "I dunno. I heard that something is planned for Sanbi's demonic chakra. That's all I can say for now."

Itachi nodded. Troubling news indeed. Just what was Akatsuki plan? "What about Kiri?"

After a brief silence, Deidara answered. "Now without a Mizukage to lead them, anti-kekkei genkai forces started to lose. They even started to fight between each other for the Mizukage title. The rebellion army needs one final, strong push into the main base and the civil war will be over. That's all I know."

Itachi nodded "Thanks a lot. I will leave now. I need to report this to Hokage-sama." Itachi stood up and was ready to leave when Deidara grabbed Itachi's hand by elbow and stopped him. Itachi turned around and looked into Deidara's eyes.

"You're still loyal to Konoha, hn?" Deidara asked.

Itachi didn't expect such a question, but he answered nonetheless "Yes. And I will always be."

Deidara let go of Itachi's hand "I see. Well," Deidara chuckled "I hope you'll figure out how to get me out from this Akatsuki organisation without my head rolling."

Itachi smiled "I wonder why you're in there in the first place."

Deidara smirked "It was the only way to hide from Iwa's hunter-nin and to get some kind of protection. I don't have any ambition in this organisation and I really don't share their idea of world dominance."

Itachi raised an eyebrow "World dominance?"

Deidara sighed in annoyance "Well, yeah. Hn. Obviously. Pain talks about bringing some kind of peace to the world but I see the true image - why else they would need all the bijuu? I suppose they want to create some kind of weapon or something like that to take control of elemental nations. Not really my thing."

Itachi stared at Deidara for some seconds before replying "Interesting theory, quite logical too. If it's not your thing, what is?"

Deidara shrugged for countless time already and answered "I dunno. I mean, I like the idea of peace but what Akatsuki is doing is definitely not for peace."

Itachi nodded "I'll think about what I can do about it. See you later then, friend." after receiving a nod from Deidara, Itachi calmly left the pub. When he stepped outside, the genjutsu at the back corner of the pub disappeared.

Deidara sat there for some more minutes before gulping all the remaining sake and leaving the pub as well, going in opposite direction from Itachi. _"I don't think there's much you can do, Itachi."_

* * *

**-Glass Village-**

*chirp!*chirp!*

"They are coming!" Naruto shouted.

Naruto, Sakura, Sasuke, Kakashi and Alicia were in the village with the rest of the civilians waiting for the attack. When Naruto shouted, loud murmurs and whispers erupted in the village.

"Are you sure?" Kakashi asked.

*chirp!*

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure. Both forces will be here in approximately 13 minutes. I think it's time to lead the villagers to safety." Naruto answered and let the bird fly away.

"Alright, listen up." Kakashi addressed the villagers and at once everything went quiet "After 13 minutes enemy forces will be here. Please follow Sakura, Sasuke and Alicia. They will escort you to the safest buildings. Stay in these buildings until all the fighting is done. We will inform you when it's safe to come out."

Kakashi nodded in the direction of his team and Sasuke, Sakura and Alicia started to escort all the villagers into nearby big buildings. Earlier that day and the day before, Sakura and Gaiko supplied all these buildings with enough water and food for all the villagers to last for 1 - 2 days.

Everything was done in 8 minutes. At first glance, it seemed that the village was completely deserted, but if one looked closer he would see the faces of worried villagers peeking out from the windows of the big buildings.

"It's time." Kakashi said. "Take your positions, and good luck." Everyone nodded to each other and left. Naruto and Alicia went for the back of the village, whereas Sakura, Sasuke and Kakashi went for the front of the village where the gates were.

* * *

**-Naruto and Alicia-**

"Here they come." Alicia said when she saw numerous figures appearing in the distance.

"Are you worried?" Naruto asked.

"A little bit. You?"

The blonde boy nodded "Only arrogant fools wouldn't be worried."

"Maybe we should hide and take them by surprise?" Alice asked.

Naruto shook his head. "No. If they come too close, they can easily sneak past us. We need to take out as many as we can from the distance then engage the survivors in close range combat."

BOOM! was heard from behind and earth shook a little.

"Looks like Sakura and Sasuke started already." Alicia said.

Naruto didn't pay much attention to it because enemy ninjas were already approaching the piles of logs where their explosive tags were hidden. "Be ready." he said and made a one handed ram seal and said "**KAI!**" Purple lines spread around his body, then disappeared. Alicia raised an eyebrow at this, but didn't ask. Then Naruto summoned his crimson bladed sword. At the same time, in a flash of white light and feathers Alicia's attire changed to her feather battle dress and her long, feather bow appeared in her left arm. Naruto and Alicia were ready for battle.

"NOW!" Naruto shouted and activated all the explosive tags. Several explosions were heard and loud screams echoed throughout the air. Naruto could also hear how some ninjas, who were faster to react, made a mud wall in order to shield themselves from falling logs. Another set of loud screams were heard, meaning that not everyone managed to dodge or block the incoming huge logs.

At the same time when Naruto activated the explosion seals, Alicia materialized her one wing and leaped high into the air while making a long set of one handed seals with her right hand. When she finished, her right hand started to glow in yellowish-blue light. She pulled back the bow string on her bow as far as she could and the yellowish-blue glow from her hand quickly transformed to shining arrows. She took aim at the middle of enemy ninja's small army and shouted as she let go of the bow string, "**Holy release: Raining Judgement!**" In a small flash from the bow, two dozen tendrils in the shape of arrows randomly but quickly started to fall on the victims. Where the shining, arrow-like tendril landed, small fire erupted and the only thing what was left from shiny tendril, was simple wooden arrow with metal tip.

Another set of screams were heard, most probably from those who were unlucky enough to get hit by burning arrow.

"So that's what villagers meant by '...heavens themselves passed judgement on the sinful; light shot from her bow burning the bandits...'" Naruto mused as he watched the light show, his Rinnegan activated. Alicia landed near the boy and hid her wing. Naruto said "Nice. I'm gonna head in now, from 18 ninja, only 8 are alive and ready to fight. 5 are injured and unable to fight. By injured, I mean either they are crippled because of your burning, pointy arrows or squashed under the huge logs."

"Hey wait, what do you mean 'head in'? It's dangerous! The entire place is filled with smoke, even I can't see anything." Alicia protested.

"We don't have time to argue. We successfully confused them and I want to take out as many as I can silently while they are in this state. And unlike you, I have a good dojutsu and although it's not like the Byakugan, I can see through this smoke. Provide me with long range support." Naruto said and in a blink of an eye he was gone.

Alicia widened her eyes _"__What speed!__"_

Naruto already entered the smoke and was running towards his closest target. Judging by Naruto's feelings, his first target was no stronger than a chuunin and next to him was another chuunin level ninja. "_Need__to__aim__for__the__throat.__"_ He thought. Naruto gripped his sword harder.

Another second and he was within sword's reach, another second and he jumped, spun 360 degrees and slashed the victim's throat open while in the midair-mid spin, silently killing him. Another two seconds and he landed, spun 125 degrees on his heels, another second and he stabbed his sword into second chuunin's throat.

"_That's 2..._" Naruto thought and observed his surroundings "_There!_" And he was running towards his next chuunin victim. Within several seconds he reached him and sliced his throat open. "_3__._" He sensed another victim nearby, moving, but this time it was a jounin level ninja. "_Need to finish the stronger opponents first._"

In 3 seconds, with several large leaps, he reached the jounin and slashed with his sword... only to miss! The enemy jounin ducked under the slash and quickly kicked Naruto from crouching position. Naruto was shocked that he missed that he didn't see the kick coming in his direction. Jounin's foot connected with Naruto's gut, kicking all the air from Naruto's lungs and sending him flying back. While still in midair, Naruto recovered from his shock and flipped in midair, easily landing on his feet. "_I shouldn't be surprised. I didn't conceal my chakra at all and this is not Kirigakure no Jutsu. Shit, I need to move!__" _he thought and heard something fly past him, probably kunai. He took his own few kunai out and threw them at the jounin who easily deflected them with his own kunai.

Naruto extended his free arm towards the jounin and said "**Bansho Ten'in!**" The jounin widened his eyes when he felt that something grabbed him and started to pull towards his enemy.

Quickly thinking what to do, the jounin did some hand seals, inhaled and exhaled numerous small fireballs while crying out "**Katon: Housenka no Jutsu!**"

Seeing the fireballs coming his way, Naruto canceled his Bansho Ten'in. Instead he waved his free hand, performing silent Shinra Tensei blocking the small fireballs and dashed towards the jounin, intending to quickly finish this fight.

In some seconds Naruto reached the jounin, and while still moving, performed a quick thrust aimed at his throat, which was barely parried with kunai. Using his momentum, Naruto abruptly stopped and spun on his heels, delivering a horizontal slashing attack to the jounin's side. The attack was very quick, so the jounin didn't have time to block or parry, instead he jumped back. The enemy jounin didn't consider the length of the sword and still got a cut on his stomach. This small close range skirmish in the smoke was all that Naruto needed to successfully mark all 10 points on the enemy's body. Naruto smirked in triumph, but didn't allow his enemy to rest.

Silently creating a Kage Bunshin, who rushed after the enemy jounin, sensing all the marks, Naruto made another quick set of hand seals.

"**Katon: Blazing Fox Rush!**" Naruto whispered and then thought, "_Seek and destroy!__"_

10 small, man-sized fists of blue fireballs appeared around Naruto and quickly took the shape of a fox's head. All 10 blue, flaming fox heads rushed towards the enemy jounin. Naruto was ready to rush alongside his jutsu, when suddenly he heard flesh piercing sound and ear shattering scream very close to him. It didn't last long though. The scream abruptly stopped when he heard unpleasant 'crack!' and 'splaksh!'.

"_Headshot! Alice doing her job just fine! It seems that the smoke was dissipating. Idiots, why they didn't use Daitoppa?_" Naruto thought and rushed towards the jounin he was fighting, because his Kage Bunshin was destroyed.

"**Fuuton: Daitoppa!**" someone shouted and the smoke was blown away.

"_Nice. Are they mind readers or something? Speak of the devil and it appears._" Naruto thought as he finally reached the enemy jounin.

Naruto jumped into the air, flipped and delivered heavy vertical slash onto enemy. The jounin, instead of blocking, sidestepped the slash and was about to stab Naruto with a kunai when something hot connected with his fist. Hissing in pain, the jounin did some backflips towards the rest of his team which now consisted of 4 ninjas: 3 jounin and 1 chuunin.

Seeing that there is 9 more fireballs quickly coming his way, he jumped and weaved around them.

The rest of 3 ninjas threw all the kunai and shuriken they could at Naruto, completely ignoring Alicia. Naruto smirked and merely raised his left arm. All the weapons coming his way suddenly stopped. With another wave of his hand, all the weapons flew back at enemy ninjas with the same deadly speed. They widened their eyes and started to dodge and deflect the weapons with their kunai. When that was done, they now also had to dodge incoming arrows from Alicia which were faster and deadlier.

The first jounin finally realized that these small fireballs are somehow tracking and following him. He did some large backflips to make distance between the following fireballs and himself and to be closer to his other 3 teammates. When he got enough distance, he quickly did some hand seals and shouted "**Doton: Earth Dome!**" then slammed him hand on the ground.

An earth dome erupted around of him, successfully blocking all the fox fireballs and shielding his other 3 teammates from from vicious arrows. They were surrounded - Alicia from one side and Naruto from the other.

"What the hell happened! There were 18 of us and now only 4!" shouted one of them, probably a chuunin. He had an average build and had long brown hair, which reached his shoulder blades.

"Shut up, Kaiko! They knew about the attack and set up a trap. No one expected it so they were easily killed or injured. Enemy used the smoke and confusion for cover and got another few kills." said the largest of these three, the one who made the earth dome. He had short, spiky, black hair.

"They are only kids, Shinji! I don't believe they did everything on their own." shouted another jounin, this one had hair similar to Mizuki - long and blue. He was tall and he had a lean build.

"It doesn't matter, Goro!" answered Shinji, the large one.

"What are we going to do? They're only kids." asked the last of the jounin. He was wasn't tall, but he wasn't short either. He was of average build. He had short, straight, brown hair.

Before anyone could say something, the dome shook, almost collapsing.

"Listen up, me and Daisuke will go after the boy." Shinji said. "Of the both of them, I think the boy is stronger. Kaiko and Goro, go after the girl."

Everyone nodded.

**-Naruto-**

"Damn!" Naruto muttered when he saw that his average powered Gōkakyū didn't do much damage. "That earth dome is stronger than I thought." Naruto glanced over Alicia and saw that she didn't have much luck either.

Just when he was about to shout something to Alicia, the dome exploded, sending the shards in both Alicia's and Naruto's direction. Naruto blocked, parried and weaved around the shards without missing a heartbeat. He saw that two ninjas used this explosion to get as close as they could without being noticed. Well, it didn't work with Naruto.

Shinji jumped into the air and threw some shurikens towards Naruto, while pointing his kunai at Naruto's head. Daisuke, on the other hand, ran towards Naruto and threw as many kunai and shuriken as he could.

Naruto stabbed his sword into the ground and raised his left arm into the air, then made a vertical slashing motion. All the projectiles stopped and fell on the ground. Then, Naruto raised his right hand in front of him and shouted "**Shinra Tensei!**" and pushed as much chakra in the attack as he could. The air around Naruto twisted and disrupted, making a dome-like shape around Naruto. Then, this dome expanded in unbelievable speed and radius, destroying the ground on it's way and throwing both enemy jounin away. It happened in less than 3 seconds. And it was enough for Naruto to mark both enemies.

Both jounin flipped in the air and landed on the ground, their eyes widening at the sheer display of power.

Naruto didn't give them any time to rest or marvel at his power. He grabbed his sword and dashed towards Daisuke, the ninja who ran on the ground, at unreal speed. In less than 2 seconds, he reached Daisuke and thrust his sword towards his throat. Daisuke back-flipped and evaded the thrust, but Naruto was hot on his heels and mercilessly attacked Daisuke with his sword with fast thrusts and slashes which should be impossible for the sword of this length. Each time Naruto did an attack, Daisuke would barely block with his kunai or sidestep the attack.

Soon after, Shinji rushed to help Daisuke. But it wasn't enough to stop Naruto. He was too fast, even for two jounin. Where one of jounin would attack with his kunai, Naruto would quickly block or parry the strike with the blade or guard and then just as quickly counter-attack, making difficult and complex chain attacks. When one of them would block, Naruto would slide, spin, jump, sidestep or use the block as the base for his attacks to find an opening. This dance of blades lasted for about one minute and a few times the enemy jounin almost got Naruto.

If Naruto had fought them one at a time, he would have easily won in a Kenjutsu battle at this time because none of them were masters and were slower than him. But he was fighting two jounin at the same time. When he saw or made very good opening, he couldn't use it because the other would attack him denying Naruto the chance to attack. Realizing that he needed another approach if he wanted to win, Naruto blocked an incoming attack from Daisuke. After evading the attack, Naruto pushed himself towards Daisuke so that their blades now made a 'X' shape at chest level.

Thanks to pushing forward, Naruto successfully evaded a vertical slashing attack from Shinji. Naruto moved his blade to the left, dragging Daisuke's kunai as well. Daisuke's chest now was fully open but Naruto didn't have any other weapons in his other hand to finish the enemy off. Instead, Naruto jumped, kicked Daisuke's chest with his feet therefore using the chest as platform for another jump. Naruto made a backflip in midair and made a heavy slash at Shinji, but he easily parried the attack, although his grip on the kunai was too weak and he lost it thanks to the hard hit.

It gave Naruto another opening, which he used to escape the close combat. When Naruto's head was facing the ground, with his free left arm he reached Shinji's right shoulder (the one which had the kunai) and used it as another platform to get away. Thanks to the opening, Naruto made Shinji unable to do anything, nor had he any time to quickly react. With his left arm, he pushed away from Shinji and in an incredible display of agility, speed and power, Naruto managed to escape the close combat. When Naruto touched the ground, he blasted away both jounin with a silent Shinra Tensei, denying them the chance to follow him and re-engage in close combat.

"_I need to distract one of them so I can quickly finish off__the__other__one._" Naruto thought as he sheathed the sword back into the storage seal and removed the marks from Shinji. Instead, he applied all 10 marks on Daisuke. Naruto did a couple of handseals and called out his jutsu, "**Fuuton: Razor Fox Rush!**" "_Seek and destroy!_" Then Naruto created one Kage Bunshin and sent him towards Daisuke.

When the 10 transparent fox heads and Kage Bunshin rushed towards Daisuke, both jounin were already on their feet and running towards Naruto. Seeing incoming missiles and a clone, Daisuke started to dodge the fuuton jutsu and at the same time trying to dispel the clone. Shinji, on the other hand, wasn't slowed down and while running he performed his own jutsu.

"**Doton: Doryū Taiga!**" Shinji cried out and Naruto felt the ground beneath him becoming soft. Recognizing the jutsu, Naruto quickly escaped the mud by jumping away, but Shinji didn't give him any rest. Shinji performed another set of seals and informed everyone of his next jutsu "**Doton: Doryūdan!**" Using the mud from Doryū Taiga as a medium, a large dragon head erupted from the mud and started to shoot mud bullets at Naruto, who in turn dodged them. Shinji performed yet another set of hand seals in order to finish his jutsu combo. Shinji cried out "**Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu!**" and exhaled a large fireball which shot towards Naruto. On it's way. the fireball touched the mud dragon and it became twice as dangerous: mud transformed into the blazing rocks. Seeing as Naruto couldn't possibly escape this one, Shinji ran forward, intending to finish Naruto the moment the fireball and burning rocks collided with the boy, though he thought it won't be necessary.

Naruto really couldn't dodge this one - the attack was huge. "_Shinra Tensei won't save me from both fireball and rock... Oh well, might as well surprise him. Why I didn't use it before?..._" Naruto thought and extended both his arms forward.

Shinji stopped and smirked when he saw that the fire and burning rocks collided with the boy. Daisuke finally joined him with cuts on his arms and torso.

"What took you so long?" Shinji barked.

"Sod off." Daisuke angrily replied "That fuuton jutsu was really fast so I didn't have time to stand in one place and do handseals. Some of them got me." he said as he showed his arms and torso "That clone with his taijutsu was annoying as hell as well. Had to make a decent distance and cancel his jutsu by overpowering his fuuton jutsu with mine. Then destroy the clone with a kunai."

"I see. Well, I'm finished here." Shinji said, smirking.

"I won't be that sure, teme." Naruto said as he left the smoke screen created from fire which he didn't absorb. "_Gotta love Preta path._"

Both Shinji and Daisuke widened their eyes in shock, seeing that Naruto didn't have even one scratch or scorch. Naruto was smirking.

"H-How!" Shinji exclaimed.

Naruto pointed at his eyes "Rinnegan stuff."

Shinji's and Daisuke's eyes widened to unbelievable sizes, a slight fear evident in them.

"R-R-Rinnegan!" Daisuke stuttered, finally noticing the blonde boy's eyes.

"Yeah." Naruto said and decided to use their shock. He extended his right hand and aimed at Shinji and whispered "**Bansho Ten'nin!**"

Shinji felt something yanked behind his navel and he started to quickly fly towards Naruto. Daisuke was too shocked by the two previous revelations to do anything about it.

Naruto wanted to beat the crap out of the guy, but he decided against it. Naruto took a kunai from his pouch in reverse grip and stabbed it in Shinji's stomach when he was close enough, forcing the man to fall to his knees. Shinji screamed out in pain and it was enough for Daisuke to shake the shock off and do something. He took some shurikens and kunai and threw them at Naruto, but it was already too late.

Seeing that that the man's other teammate finally decided to do something, Naruto took out the kunai from Shinji and still holding it in reverse grip, spun the man around, successfully dodging the thrown projectiles. While he was in mid-spin, he sliced Shinji's throat open. Blood came out from Shinji's throat and his eyes rolled up.

Daisuke watched helplessly as his teammate, a jounin, was killed by a kid half his age. He watched as Shinji silently fell to the ground. Daisuke didn't feel anything towards Shinji; he wasn't even his friend, but Daisuke knew what a 'teammate' meant. Watching as one of his teammates died in front of him wasn't the best sight to see.

Shaking the faint feeling off, he prepared for a fight. He had a brat to finish off. Daisuke was about to perform a heavy fuuton jutsu. He looked into those ripple pattern eyes and for some reason, felt a bit unnerved by them. Before he could start any handseals, Naruto rushed at him. Within seconds, Daisuke had to block and dodge Naruto's painful Kitsune Claw style stabs and punches.

"_This guys is pure speed._" Daisuke thought.

After some seconds, Daisuke's arms were heavily bruised. Finally, Naruto decided to switch from defensive tactics to use another new path of his Rinnegan.

After another dodged attack, Naruto was too slow to deliver his next stab with fingers. He slowed down on purpose, of course. Daisuke saw the opening he waited for, and delivered a quick and hard punch to Naruto's face. Naruto evaded the attack in the last second be tilting his head to the right.

Daisuke didn't give Naruto any time to retaliate and attacked Naruto as fast as he could, though he noticed that his attacks weren't as fast as Naruto's. For some more seconds Daisuke was on full offensive using kicks, punches, elbows and knees, yet he didn't score any hit at all. Each time he would attack, Naruto would evade or sidestep. Daisuke also noticed that Naruto still hadn't _blocked_ any of his attacks and that each time he evaded it's at the last moment. And that smirk of his.

"_Something is not right here._" he thought. "_I gotta make a distance and try long range. He is far superior than me in taijutsu, probably he is jounin for some years now. And I were just recently promoted._"

Daisuke decided to make his last attack and then escape from the close combat. He tried to kick Naruto in the gut and expected Naruto to evade it as well.

Naruto surprised Daisuke and instead of evading a direct kick, he caught it with both of his arms.

"You're not going anywhere!" Naruto growled as he kicked Daisuke's only standing leg while twisting the other one. Daisuke spun in midair and fell on his back. Naruto was quick and tried to stab Daisuke in the gut with his index and middle fingers but Daisuke managed to roll out of the way, and instead of Daisuke Naruto hit the ground, creating a small crater.

"_What power his fingers have! To create a crater even if it's quite small._" Daisuke thought as he back-flipped away from Naruto. When he got some distance, he stopped and thought of his next moves. He was panting, slightly exhausted. He looked at Naruto who calmly stood where both of them just were. "_How he can have such stamina?_"

"What's the matter?" Naruto cheekily asked. "Afraid to get hurt by a kid?"

"What?" Daisuke shouted, getting a bit angrier. How dare this kid taunt him?

"_Good, he is getting angrier._" Naruto thought and said "Don't worry, I'll kill you faster than I did the other guy. You're not such a big deal, anyway."

That hit a nerve, though Daisuke still tried to remain calm. "I'm not going-"

"To be taunted by some kid." Naruto and Daisuke finished together.

"If you want to kill me-"

"Then come closer." they finished in unison again.

This time Naruto started "Or I gonna come after you-"

"And finish you myself." Daisy finished. Then it hit him. His eyes widened. "W-What? Are-"

"You reading my mind?" Naruto finished the question in Daisuke's place.

"_No wonder-_" Daisuke thought and Naruto finished his thought.

"That he could evade my attacks at the last moment."

Daisuke was shocked "I-It's not possible!" He brought his hands in front of him and was ready to make a fuuton jutsu, but Naruto was faster.

Naruto started to make the hand seals and finished before Daisuke could start. Naruto shouted "**Fuuton: Kaze no Yaiba!**"

Daisuke widened his eyes. It's the jutsu he wanted to use! Daisuke rolled out of the way and dodged invisible wind blades though one blade managed to cut his leg. Daisuke didn't have any time to rest because he had to dodge shurikens coming his way. He jumped sideways and when he landed, four kunai embedded in his right arm rendering it useless.

Naruto heard a large explosion from the village's way and he turned his head to look at what's happening. He saw two lightning like arrows fighting for dominance, destroying everything in the radius of the impact.

"_Gotta finish this quickly. Seems like Alicia is about to finish as well._"

Before Daisuke could do anything, Naruto was upon him and punched him in the face then kicked him away.

Daisuke was about to recover and fight back, but he heard Naruto shout out "**Bansho Ten'nin!**" Suddenly Daisuke found himself flying towards the boy just like Shinji did before he died. "_So this is it..._"

When Daisuke finally reached Naruto he suddenly stopped. Before he could fall to the ground he saw Naruto jump over him and shout "**Shinra Tensei!**"

Daisuke was _smashed_ against the ground with invisible force and he felt few of his ribs being broken. But that wasn't the end. He still could feel his rib cage being pushed. Few more ribs cracked and Daisuke let out a silent scream of pain.

Naruto saw the pain in Daisuke's eyes and decided to bring a swift death. He stopped his Shinra Tensei and before he landed he threw a kunai which embedded right between Daisuke's eyes, killing him.

Naruto landed and let out sigh of relief. Finally it was done. He looked around and saw countless dead bodies and pools of blood around the field. Slowly he became a bit sick and guilt came over him.

"_I__killed__so__many__people__today.__.._" Naruto thought.

"**_That's the result of war, kit, though in actual war it would be much more terrible._**" Kyuubi sadly said.

Naruto shook these feelings aside. He will deal with them later. "_I didn't even need to use Kage Bunshin __that much__... And__I wonder what Alicia is up to._" He looked around and spotted Alicia, who was near the village's wall and slightly panting. "_Looks like it was a tough fight for Alicia._"

He started to make his way towards Alicia when suddenly a 'poof' was heard and a large cloud of smoke erupted in the center of the village. A loud roar shattered the air.

* * *

**-****Before the earth dome exploded****-**

**-****With Alicia****-**

_"__I wonder what are they up to.__"_ Alicia thought and looked at Naruto who did a large, blue Gōkakyū no Jutsu. The fireball collided with the dome but didn't do any significant damage. She also saw Naruto swear. Alice giggled. "_I've never seen blue Gōkakyū... Another evidence which proves that Naruto is special._"

Just when she was about to shout something to Naruto, the dome exploded. Alicia tightened the grip on her bow when she saw two figures approaching her. She also saw that two ninjas were approaching Naruto. The ones running to Naruto had a much much shorter distance to run than the ones running at Alicia. It gave Alicia a perfect opportunity to attack at the large distance.

Alicia did some one handed handseals, her hand starting to glow. She jumped into the air, without using her wing, and shouted her jutsu, **"****Holy release: Raining Judgement!****"** Dozens or so of light arrow-like tendrils shot from Alicia's bow and flew towards the two approaching ninjas quicker than kunai.

What Alicia liked about the bow is that the arrows flew much faster than most thrown kunai. While kunai were much faster to throw, the bow's arrows flew further, faster and were stronger and more painful.

Both ninja masterfully dodged the arrows, though some of them landed in front of them, igniting the area. Because of the fire, the ninjas slowed down a bit to run around the burning area.

"_Idiots. Why not jump over them?_" Alicia mused and prepared her next long ranged jutsu. She smirked. This jutsu always hits and always catches enemies off guard. It's her personal favorite jutsu.

Alicia did another set of one handed hand seals, this time her hand glowed red and yellow. She shouted the name of her jutsu, "**Holy release: Burning Cleansing!**" and just like with Raining Judgement, she pulled back the bowstring and glowing, reddish and yellowish arrows formed, though it was twice as big as the arrow of Raining Judgement. She let go of the string, and in a blast of red chakra or light (no one will ever know) the arrow flew towards Kaiko and Goro, who were now running side by side again. They were quite close to Alicia now. The arrow was aimed directly between them.

Kaiko and Goro thought that it was just miss-aimed so both of them dodged by sidestepping, while still on the move. Oh, how wrong they were. The moment both enemy ninjas sidestepped, Alicia snapped her fingers and the arrow exploded, making a ball of fire which quickly died down. Both ninjas were blasted away from the place of impact, Kaiko was thrown to the left, and Goro to the right.

Alicia quickly started to bombard them with her arrows. She pulled back the string and white smoke came came from the handle where her hand was hidden. The smoke wasn't wild like when an item is being unsealed, instead it was neat and the moment it appeared, it formed into the shape of an arrow which ended in Alicia's fingers at the bow string. When Alicia let go of the string, a wooden arrow with a metal head shot out from the smoke. It happened in less than 2 seconds.

Kaiko, at whom the first arrow was aimed, rolled out of the way and barely escaped the arrow. Ignoring the pain in his right hand, which was burnt, he dodged all the following arrows while throwing his own shurikens and kunai which briefly stopped the assault of arrows. Once all the projectiles were dodged, Alicia resumed shooting the arrows at unbelievable and, at first glance, impossible speeds. Same with Goro, though Goro had his left side burned. They couldn't make any jutsu because they had to dodge the arrows.

"_Damn!_" Kaiko thought "_How many of those bloody arrows__does__that__girl__have__?_"

While dodging another arrow, in the corner of his eyes he saw that his superior, Goro, didn't have much luck as well. Because of dodging, both of them were side by side again and were moving quite slowly towards Alicia. The closer they got, the harder it was to evade. Then Kaiko realized.

While doing rolls and jumps, Kaiko evaded arrows and made a distance between himself and Goro. Understanding what Kaiko was up to, Goro started to dodge and move opposite from Kaiko. Both of them noticed that the attacks were a bit slower. And it was only because Alicia, in order to properly aim, now had to turn around much ,more when both ninjas were separated, increasing the time between shots. After some more moments Kaiko had enough time to perform a low ranked jutsu which consisted of few handseals.

When he finished the hand seals another arrow flew his way, but it was too late.

"**Fuuton: Daitoppa!**" Kaiko shouted as he exhaled and created a large and strong gust of wind, knocking the arrow away. The wind didn't stop there and continued its way to Alicia.

Alicia stopped the ranged assault to dodge the gust of wind which could easily smash her against the village's wall just behind her. Goro used this to shoot his own long range jutsu. Kaiko started to make seals for another jutsu as well. Alicia chakra jumped into the air, without using her wings. That's exactly what two enemy ninjas were waiting for. Once in the air, you can't dodge, right?

"**Raiton: Gian!**" Goro shouted and extended his arm creating a spear made of lightning which flew towards Alicia in amazing speed.

At the same time Kaiko called his own jutsu "**Fuuton: Shinkūgyoku!**" inhaled and exhaled a large number of invisible wind bullets which were only seen by small distortion in the air.

Alicia was in grave danger and she knew it. But she also had a way to dodge the attacks, but foes didn't know that. And she decided to use it to her advantage. Before both elemental attacks reached her, she spun clockwise in mid-air and materialized her one wing and extended it as far as she could. Because she was spinning, the air hit the wing and she was pushed back, successfully evading the jutsus. While still moving through mid-air, she flapped her wing and wordlessly and seamlessly shot some feather from her wing to Kaiko, which flew surprisingly fast - at the speed of thrown kunai, while at the same time aiming with her bow at Goro and shooting.

Halfway to Kaiko, the feathers turned into white needles. Kaiko wasn't very experienced and his senses weren't on high alert so he evaded in the last moment. Some needles cut through his left arm deeply embedding themselves deep in Kaiko's burned left arm. Kaiko let out a scream of pain.

Goro, though, was more successful at dodging the arrow because he was more experienced and actually expected an attack after the well done evasion.

Alicia heard the scream and decided to finish Kaiko off. The less ninjas she has to worry about, the better it's for her. She turned around while slowly getting closer to ground, because she can't fly, and made a half ram seal. Her hand glowed white, she pulled back the string and thin yet sharp, white arrows appeared. Alicia whispered "**Holy release: Peace!**" and let go of the string. In a white flash, arrows flew from Alicia's bow. Kaiko couldn't dodge it because the arrow was really fast, he was in such pain from the feathers in his burnt flesh and he was still shocked at the way Alicia's wing appeared. He behaved like a rookie chuunin. Still, the white arrow pierced Kaiko's chest and he glowed white for 2 seconds before limply falling on to the ground with a small smile on his face.

Alicia finally touched the ground and she sensed danger from her left. She turned around and saw some shurikens coming her way along with Goro. Alicia barely dodged the projectiles but it served only as distraction. And Alicia knew that. Goro managed to reach Alice and throw a punch in her way with his left arm.

Alicia didn't even try to dodge or block it, instead she punched with left hand as well. The only difference is that Alice had her feather bow in her right hand and her hand was hidden in metal covered handle which was pointy and made from metal. Goro didn't think fast and his fist collided with Alicia's bow handle. Because of the force of the punch and the material of the bow, some bones were shattered in Goro's fist and blood started to come out of his knuckles. Goro let out quiet scream of pain. Alicia, on the other hand, wasn't affected at all.

Before Goro could do anything else, Alicia jumped and kicked Goro in the face forcing him to take some steps away from her. While still in midair, Alicia flapped her wing and did a back-flip, making some distance and increasing the height. When she straightened, and still in the air, she shot two arrows in quick succession, both of them were masterfully dodged by Goro.

Goro, ignoring the pain in his left hand, threw a bunch of shuriken and kunai as a distraction before making hand seals.

Alicia didn't try to dodge the projectiles, instead she covered herself with her large, white wing and started to make her own set of one handed hand seals. She felt a tingling sensation as the shurikens and kunai bounced off her wing. Her wing wasn't steel proof, but to get past her wing someone would need to use more than just mere ninja ranged weapons.

When Alicia finished her hand seals, her right hand glower deep blue and white, she forcefully and quickly waved her wing out of the way as she pulled the bow string back and medium sized white and blueish arrow appeared which was sparkling with some electricity. She waved her wing so forcefully and quickly that it created a gust of wind flying towards Goro who finished doing his hand seals as well.

Channelling as much chakra as she could afford, Alicia let go of the string and shouted "**Holy release: Force of the Skies!**" In a blue flash from Alice's bow, the arrow, as quickly as lightning, flew towards Goro. It was so fast that the blue and white arrow looked like an actual lightning.

Goro didn't waste any time seeing that Alicia prepared to let go her arrow. A small, white and blue sparkling ball appeared in his hand. He pushed as much chakra as he could into the small ball which started sparkling even more thrust his hand forward and shouted the name of his jutsu at same time when Alicia let go of her string "**Raiton: Lightning bolt!**"

The bolt of lightning shot towards Alicia at the same speed what Alicia's arrow was flying. The lightning bolt was connected to Goro's hand so Goro could easily add more power to it.

Lightning arrow and bolt met each other in a big explosion between Alicia and Goro; both of them were thrown back a bit - Alicia was thrown back in the air by the wind whereas Goro skidded back a bit but still didn't break the connection. Goro's hand was shaking as his bolt was trying overpower Alicia's arrow and Goro added more chakra into the jutsu. His bolt of lightning intensified, sparks and small lightning bolts shot from the place of impact where two jutsu met which exploded as they met surrounding environment. Slowly but steady, Alicia's arrow was being overpowered. Goro smirked in victory.

Seeing that her jutsu is being overpowered Alicia decided to try something out in the hopes it was going to work. Technically it _should_ work. Plus, Alicia was feeling a bit tired because of the lightning arrow jutsu.

Alicia did a half ram sign again and pulled back her bow string and a white, thin arrow formed.

"**Holy release: Peace!**" she whispered as calmly as she could and let the arrow flying, aiming at the middle of her struggling lightning arrow. The white arrow flew and Alicia was fascinated at what she saw, she didn't even know this jutsu had this effect. The white arrow cut through her lightning arrow like butter and _absorbed_ it into itself. It still remained white but now it was sparkling with lightning. Using its new-found electric power, the arrow easily overpowered Goro's lightning bolt and cut through it making two separate, smaller lightning bolts which safely flew past Alicia.

The arrow continued on its way and Goro didn't sense the danger approaching. He sensed that something went wrong (or right) because he couldn't feel any resistance anymore. His thoughts were short lived when an arrow pierced his chest, missing the heart by some centimeters. Goro felt pain as if a lightning had struct him. The pain was short lived. At one moment he felt terrible pain, the next he was glowing white and felt totally at peace. All his happiest moments flew by his eyes in two seconds and he died with a smile on his face. His heart stopped.

Alicia finally landed and de-materialized her wing. She let out a breath she didn't know she was holding.

"_Finally. At least he left in peace.__"_ She thought as she panted. The last two jutsu consumed some of her chakra. She looked around and became sick. So much bodies, so much blood... She didn't have much time to 'enjoy' the sick feeling as suddenly a 'poof' was heard and a large cloud of smoke erupted over the wall of the village. A loud roar shattered the air.

* * *

**-****Just when enemies were spotted****-**

**-****With Sakura, Sasuke and Kakashi****-**

The trio hid behind a wall and concealed their chakra as much as they could and awaited when enemy ninjas would get closer. Once in a while, Kakashi would peek over the edge of the wall to see how close they were. When the enemies were close enough, Kakashi whispered to his other two teammates. "On three I will execute my part in the plan. Then you jump in and kill as many as you can while they are confused. Try to focus on the jounin first."

Sakura and Sasuke nodded their heads in silent agreement.

All of them heard numerous distant steps of enemy ninjas.

"One..." Kakashi whispered.

The running became louder and louder.

"Two..."

Someone shouted over the wall, "Don't go on the bridge yet! It might be booby trapped."

Someone shouted an answer "Don't be stupid. First, they are mere civilians and we're ninjas. Secondly, they don't even know about the raid."

Kakashi heard numerous steps running on the wooden bridge.

"THREE!"

And the bridge exploded and screams of pain were heard. Kakashi also heard how bodies fell into the river. Using the smoke and the confusion, Kakashi jumped over the wall and did numerous hand seals while still in the air. Kakashi pushed as much chakra as he could in the jutsu to make it stronger. When he landed on the ground just near the river, he shouted "**Raijū Hashiri no Jutsu!**" and extended his right arm.

Large, blue, electric hound shot from Kakashi's hand and jumped into the water. Since water conducts electricity, the damage from Lightning Beast tripled and the area of effect increased, successfully injuring or killing those who were in the river. Another set of screams was heard across the area. To be sure that those in the river stays where they are, Kakashi threw some kunai, which had explosive tags attached to them, places where he sensed enemy ninjas. Since he was an experienced ninja, he rarely missed. And true enough, it now became quieter now when Kakashi killed those remaining in the river.

"_Gotta go and check the village as quickly as possible. I hope Sakura, Sasuke, Naruto and Alicia will be alright on their own._" Kakashi thought and jumped back in the village.

Back to Haruno and Sasuke.

Before jumping over the wall, they made a ram seal and said "**KAI!**" Purple lines spread across their bodies and then disappeared. They felt so much lighter now. Sakura then took out her father's, more like grandfather's, dirk and activated her Chishioton, creating 3 balls of blood. Sasuke already had his Sharingan on. They couldn't underestimate their foes, so they were going to fight at full power and use everything they learnt.

They jumped on the wall and looked for survivors. The smoke from explosion was slowly dissipating in the air. They were quite lucky because out of 8 ninjas, who didn't listen to their teammate, and went on the bridge, all 8 died. As far as Sasuke could tell from what he was sensing, out of 10 only one was a jounin. It seems that those who died were arrogant jounin.

"Well, nowadays most nuke-nins are arrogant." Sasuke mused.

The enemy ninjas still didn't notice the two figures on the wall, so Sakura decided to use it to their advantage.

"Sasuke, strong lightning please!" Sakura whispered as she started to do quick hand seals with both her hands. Sasuke followed her lead though slower because he knew Sakura's jutsu required much longer time to execute.

Before the attack, Sasuke approached Sakura and asked her to take the lead in the upcoming fight. Sakura was shocked at the strange request. Sasuke explained that, this way, they will have more chance to survive and Sakura knew that Sasuke tended to get a bit reckless during fights.

Sakura decided to use her strongest Suiton jutsu she learnt from the scroll using the water in the river. Well, if someone asks, Sakura will say that she found a scroll and learned that jutsu when actually one big, red, nine-tailed flurry was kind enough to share its knowledge with both Naruto and Sakura. The jutsu was A ranked and used up quite a lot of chakra (a bit less than a half of Sakura's current chakra capacity). Sakura wanted to use this jutsu because it was a wide scaled attack and it was both devastating and deadly when combined with good Raiton jutsu. The jutsu also required a long set of hand seals.

Finally Sakura finished and shouted "**Suiton: Daibakufu no Jutsu!**"

All the water in the river in front of Sakura rose high into the air making a huge wall made of water which cast a shadow over enemy ninjas who were staring at the water wall in shock.

"That's Daibakufu no Jutsu!" shouted one of them.

"There must be a jounin performing it! Orochimaru-sama didn't say we will be against ninjas. If we had known, we would have been better prepared." shouted the only surviving jounin.

Just as the water finally rose high enough, Sasuke performed his jutsu "**Raiton: Raikyū!**" A large sparkling ball of lightning appeared in his hands and he threw it at the water. The ball flew really fast and when it touched the water, the whole water wall started to spark with electricity. Then, as if on cue, the sparkling water wall fell on the enemies like a giant tidal wave. And it was coming at the enemy ninjas faster than an ordinary tidal wave would. The nuke-nins were too close to the river, near the now destroyed bridge, so they didn't have any time to run. Those who were wise enough made a Mud Wall, those who weren't merely ran away in hopes the Suiton jutsu won't reach them.

When the water finally crushed the poor nuke-nins, everyone suffered. Created Mud Walls weren't strong enough - yes they held off the attack for some seconds, but the large pressure from the flowing water was too much for the wall and it collapsed. The tidal wave took all the ninjas in its way and crushed them against trees and ground. It was even more painful because of the electricity in the water which also briefly paralyzed the victims. Those who were weaker let out a scream of pain.

When the water finally settled down, the entire field in front of the main gates was flooded and all the ninjas tried to get up. Sakura saw that and, when she stopped panting, whispered loud enough for Sasuke to hear "Another lightning ball please, though it don't need to be that strong. When it's done, try to finish them off using kunai with explosion tags. Aim for those you think are strong chuunin. I'll do the same."

Sasuke nodded and performed another "**Raiton: Raikyū!**" But this time he aimed to the location where most ninjas were.

When enemy jounin noticed the sparkling ball he shouted "Jump out of the water, NOW!" and followed his own command while throwing some shurikens and kunai to the two ninjas on the wall. "_They are just kids... They should be genin, no stronger._" he thought though he could feel some power coming out of them.

Most of the nuke-nin followed the command and jumped in the air using chakra jumps and threw some kunai at the two genin. Those who were too slow to react, though, got electrified and paralyzed again, becoming easy targets.

"Sasuke, air!" Sasuke said when she dodged all the projectiles. Without nodding or acknowledging that he heard, Sasuke started to throw explosive kunai to the targets from the air. His Sharingan allowed him to throw several explosive kunai at several targets at the same time. Sakura, on the other hand took care of those who were paralyzed on the ground. Most probably they were the weakest of the bunch.

From the ten surviving, seven were in the air and three were still on the ground.

Sakura successfully hit all three targets. Paralyzed ninjas couldn't do anything to dodge the weapons - their nerves were all messed up because of so much electricity which was STILL running in the water and they barely could move their arms. All the weapons embedded in different body parts. One in the gut, another above heart and the last one in the neck. Sakura with a heavy heart watched as the three kunai in three different ninjas exploded in gore, blood and fire, coloring the water beneath them in dirty crimson color.

Sasuke was less successful because those in the air were not paralyzed and blocked all the first wave of explosive kunai and they exploded at a safe distance. So when Sasuke threw the second wave, he detonated the explosive tag on kunai before they reached their targets. The result was better than it was. Most of them didn't expect the explosion so soon and all their hands were burned when they tried to protect their faces.

Sasuke didn't let them recuperate and launched another set of explosive kunai focusing on those who were caught off guard. Sakura, after finishing with her targets, joined Sasuke. They took down 3 more ninjas who fell dead on the ground with missing arms or holes in their chests. The water was now even bloodier than it was. Those four remaining ninjas weren't that lucky either - they had burnt arms. When they landed on water, they decided to go on the offensive. All four remaining ninjas were Kiri rogues, which meant they were good at Suiton jutsu. And there was plenty of water around.

"Suiton jutsu now! Focus on the boy!" shouted the remaining jounin and despite the pain in his arms he started to make handseals.

Sakura noticed that the enemy ninjas had now gone on the offensive, said "Sasuke, stand behind me."

Sasuke wanted to argue but he knew it wasn't the best of the times. Plus he trusted Sakura, so he did as he was told.

"_Looks like all of them are going to make a Suiton jutsu._" Sakura sighed "_I'll have to use another large amount of chakra for this jutsu to work._"

Sakura started to make her own set of hand seals, though enemy ninjas finished faster than she could.

**"****Suiton: Suigadan!**" four voices shouted. Numerous small vortexes appeared around the four ninjas.

"Shit!" Sakura said "Sasuke! Use Katon and try to slow down the water fang jutsu!"

Sasuke immediately jumped in front of Sakura and quickly made his own short set of handseals. When he was done he shouted "**Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu!**" and instead of throwing a large fireball, he sustained the jutsu making it like continuous flame-thrower. Spinning water shot from the vortexes and combined midway to Sakura and Sasuke. Now the huge drilling water fang collided with Gōkakyū and easily overpowered it. Steam was coming from the place where water and fire collided.

Sasuke had trouble keeping it up and he couldn't sustain the fire much longer. Luckily, Sakura came to his rescue.

"Sasuke! Get behind me, NOW!" she shouted.

Sasuke listened and canceled his jutsu and jumped over Sakura.

The large spinning water continued on its way and before it collided with Sakura, she shouted "**Chishioton: Tremendous Sanguine Shell!**" and pushed as much chakra as she could into the jutsu.

The three blood orbs above Sakura's head flew in front of Sakura and in a blink of an eye turned into a _massive_ blood round shield. It was an improved and stronger version of Sanguine Shell and it was big enough to cover several people behind it. Sakura saw that the incoming attack was spinning in clockwise direction so she commanded her bloody shield to spin in clockwise direction as well, in hopes that it will help. Sakura held both her hands in front of her to add more power to the shield if needed.

Suigadan finally collided with the shield in a big 'boom' and Sakura struggled to keep the shield up. That correlation jutsu was really strong. Sakura added more chakra into her shield and it started to spin quicker. Water was spraying over the edges of the shield but didn't go past it. Sakura was panting heavily because this jutsu was really chakra consuming, plus she used an A ranked jutsu before that. After some seconds, when she thought she can't keep up anymore, the water stopped spraying and there was no force behind the shield.

"Yes! I stopped it!" Sakura thought, though she wasn't done yet. Not by a long shot. "Lets see what do you think about this one, bastards!" she shouted.

Sakura made another set of hand seals and extended her arms and touched her shield and shouted "**Chishioton: Crimson Bullets!**"

The large shield stopped spinning and started to shoot hundred of hundreds small, blood bullets. They were quick as lightning and strong as a bullet. The shield was so large that thousand of bullets shot from it before the shield disappeared at all.

Originally all four ninjas were so shocked about the fact that mere girl blocked their combined Suigadan which was four or five times more powerful than single Suigadan. They were also surprised about the shield the girl used. It was a jutsu they have never seen before. A new element.

The four Kiri nuke-nin got out from their stupor when they heard Sakura shout her next jutsu. All of them had one thought before they were bombarded with countless small bullets "_Blood release?_"

Two chuunin were dead immediately because they weren't quick enough to dodge the bullets. Plus, it was almost impossible to dodge them because there was too many of them. The only thing what could be seen was a crimson wave heading their way. Two unfortunate chuunin got their chest and head pierced, damaging lungs, heart and brains. Both ninjas were dead within seconds.

The other two reacted quickly enough and started to do backflips on the water before the bullets reached them. Even then they were too slow and their arms and legs were pierced by the lone bullets which flew further. Luckily for them they got out of bullet range and were safe, compared to the other two dead chuunin, and escaped with small injuries.

When the shield disappeared and the last bullet was shot, Sakura fell to her knees and was panting heavily. They were fighting at a long range, which was her and Sasuke's specialization, and they won. Sakura was exhausted - she used two high ranking jutsu in rapid succession and even overpowered them by adding more chakra in them.

Sasuke ran to her and knelt next to her. He was amazed by Sakura's work and if Sasuke was amazed then it was a feat on its own. He didn't know Sakura could perform such strong jutsus.

"I won't ask if you're alright because you clearly aren't." Sasuke commented "Good job, though. It was really amazing."

Sakura, now regaining some strength, shook her head. "No, not yet. Two of the are still alive." She didn't even say thank you for a compliment. She was still in the 'battle mode'. "Sasuke." Sakura said and gently pushed Sasuke away. Sasuke was curious what Sakura is going to do now. Sakura took her knife and stabbed it into her palm.

Sasuke widened his eyes "No, you're too exhausted!"

Sakura merely shook her head and created three orbs for her Chishioton. She did two seals, ushi and mi (ox and snake), and asked "Sasuke, channel some chakra into each of Chishioton balls."

Sasuke didn't have to argue so he did as he was told.

Sakura muttered "**Chishioton: Blood Pact!**" The balls now moved over Sasuke's head. The Uchiha boy raised an eyebrow at that.

"Now these balls will stick with you. One of them will act on its own and will protect you from any ranged and rear attacks. The other two I will control. True, I don't have much chakra left, but I can control the ball using the jutsu I just performed. The balls will take your chakra and I can use it to control the shape and movement of two balls from a distance. This way I can't use my Chishioton techniques, but I can support you without wasting my own chakra. Don't worry, the chakra these balls will take is non-existent. Now go and use 'Force' formation!"

Sasuke was amazed by Sakura's thinking and strategy. Sasuke nodded and dashed towards two remaining nuke-nins who now tried to escape. Both ninja's arms and legs were bandaged.

"_Looks like they bandaged themselves while me and Sakura were talking. And it also looks that they finished just now._" Sasuke thought.

While still on the move, Sasuke did some hand seals and said "**Katon: Flaming Burst Fists!**" His hand now was covered in fire - from fingertips to elbows. It didn't hurt him and didn't burn his clothes, but it would hurt as hell to anyone he would punch. Both ninjas' had their backs turned to Sasuke.

"_Perfect!_" he thought and took out some kunai which were engulfed in flames once he touched them. And he threw both of them at the man on the right.

The ninja on the left saw Sasuke out of the corner of his eye, and shouted as he pushed the other ninja away. "Look out!"

Trusting his teammate, the ninja on the right, despite the slight pain in his legs, jumped to the right, narrowly dodging the flaming kunai though one of them still managed to slightly cut his left bicep, leaving a large, burnt gash. Both ninjas now were aware of Sasuke presence.

Both of them jumped forward, spun around in mid-air and threw some shurikens and kunai while still in the air. Sasuke had to dodge some of the weapons though he noticed that true to Sakura's words, one of the blood balls transformed into 5 long, thin tendrils, caught the kunai and threw them back. Both enemy ninjas were surprised by that but still blocked them with ease.

Sasuke felt that some of his chakra was being sucked away but he barely noticed it. If he wouldn't pay any attention to his chakra he wouldn't notice it at all. True to Sakura's words, the chakra these balls used was indeed non-existent.

"Looks like we can't escape." said the man on the right. "Daru, don't underestimate this kid - he and that girl killed all of our division."

"Yes, Shiro-san." Said the ninja on the left. "I hope the other division will do better."

"I won't be that sure." Sasuke said and smirked, his Sharingan spinning in his eyes.

"Sharingan!" exclaimed Daru.

"Why do you think so?" asked Shiro.

"Well, because there are two other ninja at the back of the village. There was a nasty trap for your other as you call it, division as well. Furthermore, even I and the other girl you saw here can't beat one of the ninjas' at the back of the village when we team up." Sasuke answered "So maybe we should stop talking and get things done?" he asked and without awaiting an answer, rushed towards Shiro, who he thought was a jounin. Soon his Flaming Burst Fists jutsu will end, so he had to use it while it still was blazing around his hands.

Sasuke threw a right hook to Shiro's face which he evaded by sidestepping. Shiro knew that he shouldn't try to block it because of the fire around Sasuke's fists, he still felt what that kunai did to him.

Before Shiro could counterattack, one of the blood balls above Sasuke's head transformed into a sharp tanto and tried to slash Shiro's shoulder. Shiro, already expecting something like that because he saw how his kunai were caught, evaded the slash.

Sasuke was on him again and did kick-punch-punch-punch-kick-kick combo, each accompanied with tanto slashes. Shiro dodged them and evaded attacks with some trouble. Even though he was an experienced jounin, he was fatigued and injured from Crimson Bullets, burned arms and a large gash on his bicep.

"**Suiton: Ja no Kuchi!**" someone, most probably Daru, shouted from behind Sasuke.

"_Damn, I forgot about him._" Sasuke thought. "_Oh well._"

A large snake sprung from the water near Daru and shot towards Sasuke, its jaw open.

Sasuke quickly did punch-kick to Shiro and few tanto slashes were enough to force Shiro to make some distance. Sasuke put his palms together and spun around on his heels and pushed as much chakra as he could between his palms. The fire around his arms intensified.

"**Dragon Flight!**" Sasuke roared and the fire from his arms shot forward and transformed into a large dragon made purely of fire. With a roar the dragon collided with the snake and both jutsu canceled each other in a big explosion. Fire extinguished and water evaporated, creating a large cloud of steam which hid all three ninjas. Though Kiri ninjas couldn't see much in the steam, they were masters in silent killing. Well, it won't help them here because the steam wasn't chakra made and Sasuke's sharingan saw through it.

Before Daru realized what happened, Sasuke was already in front of him, kunai in hand and arm drawn back ready to make slashing attack. Daru barely managed to dodge by jumping back, but he still got a small cut on his throat. It wasn't deadly though.

Daru wasn't prepared for what happened next. Two blood balls, above Sasuke's head, transformed into long whips and, the moment Daru's feet touched the ground, shot towards intending to grab him by his arms. Daru managed to evade one whip though, while the other one grabbed him by his left wrist. Because of that, the first whip succeeded in grabbing Daru's right wrist on it's second attempt.

Now when Daru was captured, the whips forcefully retracted, dragging Daru with them. When the enemy ninja was close enough, Sasuke slashed his throat immediately killing Daru.

The moment he slashed Daru's throat, he sensed danger approaching from behind. He rolled to the side but didn't see anything dangerous flying past him. He looked up and saw that one of the orbs transformed into six medium sized whips which were holding four shurikens and two kunai. He didn't have time to inspect Sakura's Chishioton jutsu any longer because in the corner of his sharingan eyes, he saw two similar water snakes approaching. These ones were much smaller but still could push him off balance, giving an enemy enough time time to plan his next move. In Sasuke's opinion, in shinobi fight surprise and timing were the most important things.

So instead of jumping to the left or right to evade, he ran directly towards the water snake jutsu. He felt a little drainage on his chakra reserves, so he looked up and saw how Sakura's two balls transformed into nine long whips. Now he had six heavily armed whips and nine long non armed whips. An entire army! he thought and chuckled.

Sasuke finally reached the snakes and using a chakra enchanced jump, jumped over them and landed in front of Shiro. The steam was slowly disappearing so Shiro could now see much more clearly. He didn't expect Sasuke to land directly in front of him and to have an army of whips above the boy.

Sasuke tried to kick Shiro but he quickly blocked the kick and counter-attacked with his own kick. Sasuke caught Shiro's leg and tried to kick Shiro in the gut with his feet. This time Shiro didn't block the kick, instead he caught it just like Sasuke did. Keeping balance, Sasuke tried to punch Shiro in the face with his free hand. Shiro caught that too. And so they stood there like that - Shiro holding Sasuke's leg and fist; Sasuke holding Shiro's leg and trying overpower Shiro's firm grip.

"_Damn. Even being so young this kid is pretty strong._" Shiro thought. That was also the moment when Sasuke's 'small army of whips' decided to play their role. "_Shit, I forgot about them!_"

The first to act were the whips with shuriken and kunai. They randomly thrashed around, though all the slices were aimed at Shiro. The Kiri nuke nin was forced to let go of Sasuke, he even managed to to punch Sasuke in the face before making some distance.

Sasuke didn't give him any distance and he was quick to re-enter close combat. When he got closer, all of his 15 whips started to attack Shiro at random intervals and places - some of the whips aimed for head, some for chest, whereas others aimed for arms and legs. Shiro had trouble dodging them all and some of them got him, making cuts all over his body. Being in closer range, Sasuke decided to complicate Shiro's task of dodging even more.

He did some handseals and said as he exhaled air "**Katon: Housenka no Jutsu!**"

Numerous small fireballs shot from his mouth. Shiro just couldn't dodge both fireballs and whips. It was impossible because the speed of whips was too fast and the jutsu was fired from very closer range.

Eventually Shiro couldn't dodge one of the fireballs and it struck him on the gash on his bicep making it so much more painful. Because of the pain, he slowed down and because of that more and more whips cut him. Finally the whips stopped the wild thrashing around. Instead, they grabbed Shiro by neck, wrists, biceps, legs and waist and pulled towards Sasuke. Once Shiro was close enough, Sasuke killed the man by stabbing a kunai, which he got from his pouch, into the man's heart and then slicing his throat open.

"Finally, it's done." Sasuke muttered and looked around. Numerous bodies laid around and river of blood flowed from them and mixed with surrounding water. Some dead ninjas had some missing parts on their bodies. And the most strange thing was that Sasuke didn't feel _anything_. "_Strange. It was my first kill and I killed so many people today, yet I feel nothing. __Nothing__._" he muttered and looked at his bloodied hands "_Do I feel remorse for what I've done? No. Do I feel happy or excitement of what I've done?..._" he thought and after a moment of thinking he answered his own question "_No. Definitely not. Then why don't I feel at least something? Is it right? Is it good or bad? I think the most important question is: what should I feel in the first place and what is going to happen next when I don't feel anything when I kill?_" He shook these thoughts away for a later time and went to check on Sakura. He noticed that the three blood whips had already collapsed on ground.

Sakura was much worse off than Sasuke. If Sasuke didn't feel anything, Sakura was openly crying at the sight in front of her. She didn't notice it while fighting because she had to focus on more important things, like helping Sasuke or taking out as many enemy ninjas as possible. But now, looking at all these dead and destroyed bodies, the river of blood which flowed on the field, random arms or legs scattered across the field, it was a sick sight to behold.

But Sakura's dilemma was that she killed so many people today. And she knew it had to be done. She cried and sobbed at all the lives she took today and at how many more she will have to take. She realized that the life of a ninja isn't an easy one. Even after Kakashi's speech, after her first kill, she still felt bad about it.

She was stopped from her trail of thoughts when a large puff of smoke erupted from the village and a loud roar shattered the air.

* * *

**-****With Kakashi, when he finished his part of the plan****-**

"_Gotta go and check the village as quickly as possible. I hope Sakura, Sasuke, Naruto and Alicia will be alright on their own._" Kakashi thought and jumped back into the village.

First, he decided to find the highest building in the village. After some moments of looking, he spotted that the highest building was Gaiko's office. Leaping from roof to roof, he reached the office in no time. He climbed up to the roof and looked around.

He checked what Sasuke and Sakura were doing and he was shocked on what he saw.

"That's Daibakufu no Jutsu!" Kakashi exclaimed and then smiled "_I shouldn't be surprised by now, should I?_" Then he looked at Naruto's and Alicia's side and saw that enemy forces were approaching the piles of logs. After some seconds, when all the enemies were within blasting area, the piles exploded. Kakashi watched them for some more seconds because he wanted to see what those two will do now. "_I would rush in and kill as many as I could using the smoke as cover and confusion to secure kills._" he mused. When Kakashi saw that Naruto did just that, he smiled "_Good._"

He didn't spot anything unusual so far so he decided to go and check on villagers. He didn't want to use shunshin because if Orochimaru was inside the village he could sense the spike in chakra alerting him that a ninja was in town.

Kakashi finally reached the first hiding post and went in. Just as he stepped in, some of the civilians started to scream and one of them even threw a frying pan at Kakashi. The one eyed man sweatdropped and caught the pan.

"Relax. It's just me."

One of the civilians asked "What do you mean 'me'? Maybe you're not 'you'. What's your name?"

"_Right.__"_ Kakashi thought as his sweatdrop increased in size, He answered, nevertheless. "My name is Kakashi Hatake and I'm from Konoha, here for a mission."

Some civilians seemed to relax, though there were some wise people who didn't yet believe him.

Another civilian, the one who worked at inn where team 7 stayed, asked "You can easily find the man's name in the bingo book and disguise as him. I have a better question! What did I bring you and your team to eat today at lunch?"

Another sweatdrop appeared. "You brought us apple juice, green tea, rice, sushi and some salads."

The inn worker nodded his head. "He is the real one."

"_At least they are not as stupid civilians as I thought they are..._" Kakashi mused.

"Why are you here and not fighting?" someone asked.

"I don't want to raise panic, but there's a chance that one powerful ninja infiltrated the village and is planning something nasty. My other teammates, including Alicia-san, are fighting the enemy forces. Don't say they are just kids, because they are a force to be reckoned with. Now, did you notice any strange man coming in or out?"

Everyone started to murmur and then the inn worker (it seemed that the guy was in the leader here) said "No, I don't think so. What do you mean by 'strange'?"

Remembering what Naruto told him, Kakashi answered, "Well I know that the man wears a black cloak with red clouds. I also know that he has some kind of purple rope like belt underneath the cloak."

"No, we haven't seen anyone like that."

"I see, thanks. I'm gonna head to the other hiding places and ask around. The faster I'm done with that, the faster I can return to my team." Kakashi said and left the building.

He spent some more minutes visiting all the buildings used for hiding and asked the civilians for Orochimaru. In each hiding post he was met with screams and flying kitchen implements and questions. Some of them he even had a hard time answering; one of such questions was, 'Today in the morning you came into my shop. Before buying some fruits you checked out three things. Name what those things were, what shape they were and what color.' Kakashi almost failed that one...

Kakashi left the last building and decided to check the village for the last time from the Gaiko's office roof. When he reached said roof, he looked over the walls and saw that both fights were just finished. All the fighting was done in some minutes.

"_Element of surprise. Gotta love it._" Kakashi thought with a smile and looked around the village trying to spot something unusual. _"__Looks like Orochimaru didn't-_"

He spotted something moving in the village's square. He focused on the moving figure and his one visible eye widened to unbelievable proportions "_Speak of the devil and he appears! How could I miss him?_"

It was Orochimaru. He was dressed in his Akatsuki cloak. Snake sannin was doing hand seals while holding some kind of scroll in his mouth. Kakashi didn't think of what Orochimaru was doing because he was already rushing to him. Orochimaru stopped doing his hand seals and bit his thumb. Kakashi's eyes widened even more! He was not going to make it! Kakashi threw some kunai but Orochimaru merely sidestepped them.

Orochimaru took his scroll into one hand and unrolled it while smearing blood with his other hand across the opened scroll. When Kakashi was closer enough, Orochimaru laughed "Ku ku ku. Kakashi. What a surprise. Didn't expect you to be here of all places."

"What are you going to do?" Kakashi asked as he was about to lift his headband and reveal his sharingan.

"Ku ku ku. You're too late, Kakashi. And I'm not gonna fight you today. After all, you and your jounin team are going to die today." Orochimaru said in his hiss like voice and before Kakashi could do anything, slammed his scroll into the ground and shouted "**Heavy Scroll Kuchiyose no Jutsu!**"

"NO!" Kakashi screamed.

A _huge_cloud of white smoke appeared. Within it, was something so big as if someone summoned Toad Boss Gamabunta. A loud roar shattered the air.

* * *

**END!**

**I re-wrote _all_ the fighting scenes at least twice (Sasuke and Sakura scene four times) until I was somehow happy about it. I hope you like it and I would greatly appreciate feedback mainly on fighting scenes.**

**I hope I did well and you liked it.**


	10. Chapter 9 MotSaP

The next chapter is here! It is shorter than the previous one but I hope it's good nonetheless. So what Orochi-teme summoned? Read and find out.

**-I want to explain one thing though, in case someone was wondering - Orochimaru didn't use an ordinary Kuchiyose. He summoned the creature via the scroll. Basically the creature was sealed in the storage scroll which was designed and created using the summoning contract's idea - a realm was created within the scroll and the beast was tied to the Orochimaru, which means that the creature had to obey Orochimaru's commands once it's free from the scroll. Think of that scroll as prison of kinds. It will be further explained later in the story.**

**-Another important thing. I noticed in the few last chapter that I made team 7, especially Naruto, a bit too powerful. I did it unintentionally - it just happened. To make up for that and keep the balance, starting from next chapter I gonna make enemies much stronger as well - to match Naruto and his team and to make balance.**

I didn't get much reviews for last chapter, which is kind of weird. It's weird because I get a lot of reviews for a small chapters yet for an extra long chapters with a hell lot of action in it I get only few ._. Well, the purpose of this story is to entertain you, my readers, so I'm not sad or anything about it. Just curious.

Other thing I wanted to mention - those who favorited and follow me as a writer, check out and follow my facebook page (further info in my profile + link). It's quite new so it's mostly empty now. I think no author have done it before so I figured I could try it for the reasons listed in my profile here. I can just say it's a great way to stay in touch with you, my few readers, and to keep you updated about my stories.

And another note - check out my brother's story - Naruto The Wielder of the Penta (name: Misteryo211). And the link for this story - s/9109969/1/Naruto-The-Wielder-of-The-Penta (put the link after the fanfic [dot) net) The story is new, but it starts interestingly and he might use some support.

Well, my ranting finished and on with the story!

* * *

** Chapter 9**

**Manifestation of the Soul and Pain**

_Previously..._

_"_**__****Force of Unchanging Reality!**_" Sakura whispered and the air around them twisted a bit before returning to normal._

_"How much time 'till the genjutsu wears off?" Sasuke asked._

_"You have about 2 hours to safely get in and out." Sakura answered._

_Naruto nodded and said, "Let's go, Wahoki-san."_

* * *

_"Who are you and what do you want from me?" Sakura hissed as she held her kunai close to the pursuer's throat._

_"Fine, fine. You got me, Sakura." the pursuer answered. It was actually a girl. A young girl. "You can take your kunai off me."_

_Sakura wasn't so trusting though. "I repeat: who are you and what do you want?"_

_The girl in front of Sakura sighed. "I'm Alicia Tsukiko, just Alice to friends."_

* * *

_"This is good luck!" Wahoki quietly exclaimed and got out from the corner and went back to the doors._

_"Yeah..." Naruto sighed as he followed Wahoki. He was all sweaty from the stress. "He even left the door open!"_

_"Here they come." Alicia said when she saw numerous figures appearing in the distance._

_"Are you worried?" Naruto asked._

_"A little bit. You?"_

_The blonde boy nodded "Only arrogant fools wouldn't be worried."_

* * *

_Kakashi whispered to his other two teammates. "On three, I will execute my part in the plan. Then you jump in and kill as many as you can while they are confused. Try to focus on the jounin first."_

_Sakura and Sasuke nodded their heads in silent agreement._

_All of them heard numerous distant steps of enemy ninjas._

* * *

_Naruto landed and let out sigh of relief. Finally it was done. He looke__d around and saw countless dead bodies and pools of blood around the field. Slowly he became a bit sick and guilt came over him._

_"____I killed so many people today...__" Naruto thought._

_"_**__****That's the result of war, kit, though in actual war it would be much more terrible.**_" Kyuubi said __sadly__._

_He started to make his way towards Alicia when suddenly a 'poof' was heard and a large cloud of smoke erupted in the center of the village. A loud roar shattered the air..._

* * *

_Now..._

**-Naruto and Alicia-**

Another roar.

"What the hell?" Naruto shouted and ran towards the village.

"_**Be careful, kit, I sense some bijuu chakra!"**_ Kyuubi shouted in Naruto's mind "_**It's faint but it's still there."**_

Naruto abruptly stopped "_Demonic chakra? Is it even possible to summon a bijuu? What the hell is happening here?_"

"_**As far as I know I'm the only bijuu who can be summoned because me and my kin are tied to the summoning contract. And it's not the bijuu who is currently in the village. It has some leftover bijuu chakra but it still is not a bijuu. From what I can tell, it has about one sixth or seventh of Ichibi's chakra. Weak but might cause trouble nonetheless.**_"

Naruto nodded in understanding and ran towards village again. He finally saw Alicia standing not far from the wall and looking into the cloud of smoke with confused face.

"Alice!" Naruto shouted "What the hell happened?"

Alicia shook her head when she heard Naruto's question and when Naruto got closer, she answered "I-I don't know. Someone summoned that thing. I still can't see what's in there because of the cloud of smoke but I can tell you for sure that whatever creature was summoned, it's in great pain, sorrow and despair." Alicia let out a hard sigh and whispered as if only to herself "It's like the creature's soul is crying... If there is any soul in the first place... It's so... empty."

"What do you mean?" Naruto asked.

"Huh? Oh, it's another of my bloodline's ability. It allows me to sense sad emotions, like sorrow or despair, in the soul. The strange thing is that, whatever creature was summoned, it almost has no soul."

"Then we need to help the creature and save it from the pain. But we'll think about it later – we need to save the villagers first!" Naruto said urgently.

Alicia's eyes widened. How could she forget about the villagers? That creature, whatever it was, was huge enough to be able to destroy buildings just by stepping on them. "Come, Naruto, we have to help them before the summoned beast starts moving."

"I wonder why it still hasn't moved." Naruto mused, "Right, lets go!"

Alicia nodded and both of them ran on the wall. Well, Naruto had to run on the wall – Alicia just jumped over.

* * *

**-Sakura and Sasuke-**

_Another roar._

Sakura looked over the wall and widened her eyes "W-What... Who?" she whispered to herself and then she realized "This must be what Orochimaru planned..."

"Sakura!" someone shouted behind her. The girl turned around and saw Sasuke quickly coming her way. She noticed Sasuke had some blood on his hands and clothes. It made her remember the recent events and the scene she saw afterward, it made her feel sick again.

Sasuke finally got to Sakura and he noticed Sakura was pale. "Sakura! Are you alright?"

Sakura shook the sick feeling off, now wasn't the time for that, and answered with a small smile as she stood up "Yes, more or less I'm fine. Just a bit exhausted – I used so many overpowered high level jutsu in rapid succession. You know that my chakra reserves are not as high as yours or Naruto's."

Sasuke nodded in understanding "Do you know what happened? I only heard a roar and now there is this cloud of smoke."

"I think it's Orochimaru's doing. He summoned something. I can't see what exactly though. For some reason, that cloud of smoke is not disappearing." Sakura answered honestly.

Sasuke nodded "Let's go, Sakura. We need to help the villagers before the beast starts to move. I think Naruto and Alicia are already there."

Sakura nodded. She took out a soldier pill from her supply pouch and threw it in her mouth. She immediately felt much more refreshed. "Let's go."

Both teens jumped over the wall and ran towards the village. Hopefully, the summoned creature won't move for a while. They will deal with it later – the villagers are more important now.

* * *

**-Kakashi-**

_Another roar._

When Kakashi heard the second roar, he did some back flips and escaped the smoke. He still couldn't see the beast, but he was close enough to hear its' labored breathing. Whatever was summoned, it was in pain. Kakashi quickly scanned the area for Orochimaru but the man was already gone.

_"He used the smoke and roar as distraction to escape. Damn," _Kakashi cursed inwardly. He also felt the summoned creature's chakra – it was dark, filthy and, for some reason he thought, unstable. _"Weird."_

"Kakashi!"

Kakashi turned around to see who called. It was Naruto and Alicia.

"Naruto! Alicia!" Kakashi called over. He saw some blood and dirt on both teens' clothes but didn't comment on it. "Are you alright?"

"Yes, we are." Naruto answered for both himself and Alicia. "We need to get the civilians out before the summoned beast starts moving."

"Kakashi-sensei!"

Kakashi turned around and saw Sakura and Sasuke running in their direction. "Sakura, Sasuke." he nodded. He saw that Sasuke, just like Naruto, had some blood on his clothing and arms. Sakura, on other hand, looked a bit tired. "Is everything alright on your part?"

"Yes." Sasuke answered "But we don't have time for that. We need to get the villagers out of here before the beast moves."

Kakashi nodded "That's exactly what Naruto said."

Both Sakura and Sasuke were in such a hurry that they didn't notice Naruto and Alicia were there as well. Sasuke and Sakura nodded at the other two teens as a greeting and received two nods back.

Exactly at that time, the summoned beast let out another load roar and the smoke finally disappeared. Everyone looked up and were disgusted and shocked at what they saw.

The beast was at least 5.5 meters tall, taller than village's wall and two floor buildings. But it wasn't the height that terrified them, it was its' looks. The creature had a furry mixture of black and deep brown and it had two heads. Yes, two heads. Two thin, hound like heads which were really intimidating. Two pairs of blood red eyes, full of rage and pain, set on five ninjas on the ground. The heads were connected to the main body with what seemed like threads made of red chakra, which were constantly moving. It had four long, thin but strong legs.

The creature looked like a really, really overgrown two headed hell hound. The five ninjas then heard some hissing. They looked behind the two heads and widened their eyes. There was a black snake in a place where the tail should be, attached to the body with the same chakra like threads. The snake's slitted, bloodshot eyes also held unrestrained fury and pain. In some random intervals something red, which very much looked like chakra, leaked out from the hound's ears.

Sakura gasped in horror. "W-what i-is that t-t-thing?"

No one answered because no one had an answer. But just by looking at the creature, it was clear as day – someone had performed some very nasty experiments on it.

"It shouldn't be possible," Kakashi said, still shocked "This creature is _made_ from different parts which were taken from different animals. Two hound heads, a snake and Kami only knows where the body came from. It shouldn't be possible. The creature should be dead."

Then Naruto understood. Bijuu chakra. That's exactly what Kyuubi was talking about. Naruto could even see it – chakra leaking from its' ears and those threads which held the body together...

"Kakashi," Naruto called "I don't know how this is possible, but the creature is more or less alive because of the demonic chakra in it."

"What?!" Kakashi exclaimed and narrowed his eyes "How do you know?"

Naruto rolled his eyes "Look at those red, moving threads which are holding each part together. Look at what is sometimes leaking out of the creature's ears. You must have sensed something, right?"

"_So that's why I felt dark and filthy chakra."_ Kakashi thought. Naruto was right and in this case there was nothing they could do – the beast was huge and had bijuu chakra, and since it had bijuu chakra, which was so freely leaking out of it's body, then it meant that the creature's body was covered in bijuu chakra as well and no jutsu would be able to harm it. Just like that time with Kyuubi.

Luckily, the beast still didn't attack or move. It was inspecting the small figures beneath it. But Kakashi knew, that at any small movement, creature will attack.

"_Seems that the creature hasn't any intellect left. It will act on pure instinct,"_ Kakashi thought and said, "Listen. First, there's nothing we can do – most probably its' body is covered in demonic chakra and no jutsu will harm it, only anger it. Secondly, it is too big and we don't know anything about it's fighting capabilities. Thirdly, we don't have any summons to counter it's size. My nin-hounds are too small for this."

"W-What?" Alicia asked, her eyes still on the creature in front of her "And leave all civilians behind?"

"It's the only way for us to survive."

No one protested, but Kakashi saw that Sakura and Sasuke glanced at each other and then looked at Naruto with hopeful eyes. There was something they knew and Kakashi didn't. Naruto, on the other hand, had a determined look on his face. And Alicia was lost. She wanted to stay and fight, but she knew what Kakashi said was true.

Meanwhile, Naruto asked Kyuubi "_Kyuubi. I didn't want to reveal it just now, but it looks like I have no other choice. I will need __the__ foxes' help._"

Kyuubi nodded, though Naruto couldn't see it, "_**Yes, kit. And you don't have to ask me – everything is up to you – you make **__**the **__**choices, not me.**_**"**

"_Thanks."_

"_**Before you go, listen. Don't forget that your chakra is completely different from normal chakra and each of your jutsu is filled with your unique chakra. It's true that others won't be able to harm the beast, but you and your foxes can harm it. It will be completely your fight, Naruto."**_ Kyuubi said seriously. _**"I think this is your first serious challenge in your long road as savior."**_

"_You too believe what Alice said?"_ Naruto asked. Yes, he did believe what Alicia said that day, but the doubt still was there.

"_**Yes. I knew all along that you were special. Rinnegan, the gift from Kami, eyes of the savior or destroyer. Father had the same eyes and he did **__**a great number of**__** good things and I believe you are destined to do the same,"**_ Kyuubi said "_**Now go and save the creature from its' pain.**_"

"_Pain?_"

"_**Yes. You can tell as well how much pain it's in. A creature made from different animal body parts, experimented with wild bijuu chakra... It has to be in great pain. Help it, Naruto. Save the creature from its' misery." **_

Naruto nodded.

"Kakashi, take everyone and lead as much people as you can to safety." Naruto said seriously, his eyes never leaving the beast's.

Kakashi widened his one visible eye "Are you going to fight it?"

Naruto nodded.

"Are you mad? Did you hear what I said?"

Naruto answered, still looking into the beast's eyes "Because of Kyuubi and my Rinnegan, I have a different chakra. I can hurt it and I can kill it. This creature was subject to experiments and I want to put an end to its' pain and misery. Plus, I have a way of fighting summons."

Before Kakashi could say something, Alicia asked, "Different chakra? You mean those who have different chakra can fight it?"

"I don't know about that, but I know for sure that my chakra can hurt it."

"How can you know that?" Kakashi asked, but didn't get an answer.

"I'll fight with you!" Alicia said.

"No, Alicia-" Naruto objected but Alice interrupted him.

"No, I will. You can't imagine how much pain its' in. I want to help it!"

After a brief silence, Naruto said "Argh, fine. You'll provide long range support then."

"What are you planning to do?" Alicia asked.

"You'll see."

Kakashi didn't agree, though. "I think you didn't hear me. We can't fight it! We don't have any summons to fight something of this size."

"You don't, Kakashi, but I do." Naruto answered with a smirk.

"What?" Kakashi asked.

"Just believe in him, Kakashi," Sasuke said "It's easier that way."

It seemed that beast got tired of watching and waiting, so it acted. With a load roar, it raised its' paw and smashed it in the place where the five ninjas stood a moment ago.

The ninjas were fast, and before the paw could connect with them, they jumped away. A lot of debris and smoke rose into the air.

"We'll lead the beast out of the village! You lead the villagers in the opposite direction!" Naruto shouted.

Kakashi couldn't object because they had to dodge another paw. So he, Sasuke and Sakura ran towards the houses which held the scared civilians. It looked like they saw and heard everything.

The beast turned its attention to the three retreating figures and wanted to chase them.

Alicia saw it and shot two arrows at it in rapid succession. They hit creature's fur and fell to the ground.

"_Damn!_" she thought and with one hand seal shouted "**Holy Release: Peace!**"

Naruto raised his eyebrow at the unknown release but ignored it for now.

Bright, thin arrows shot towards the beast and pierced its flesh. Half of the arrowswere now in the beast. The creature let out a load roar and turned its attention to the two teens. With another roar and a loud hiss, the snake tail shot towards Naruto and Alicia, its mouth wide open and its fangs ready to pierce. Alicia materialized her wing and jumped in the air, while Naruto evaded the snake by jumping to the side.

The snake hit the ground and raised another cloud of smoke and debris. It hissed in pain. Before the snake could retreat, Alicia landed on the snake's back and with a bow in her hand and one wing on her back, ran towards the beast's main body while shooting small fire and lightning arrows.

"That girl is mad!" Naruto exclaimed when he saw what Alicia was doing.

But it didn't matter, the two headed beast's attention was already on the two aggressive teens. Naruto saw that the rest of the team, Sakura, Sasuke and Kakashi, were slowly evacuating the villagers in the opposite direction. Naruto saw worry and confusion in Kakashi's face, determination and trust in his two teammates', fear and hope in villagers'.

Naruto did some handseals and shouted "**Katon: ****Hōsenka no Jutsu!**" and shot some blue fireballs at the beast. Naruto didn't stop there, though, and performed his next jutsu **"Fuuton: Kaze no Yaiba!" **and let go some invisible wind blades from his fingertips in one sweeping hand motion.

The speed at which he performed the two jutsu were impossible for genin, thus – the jutsu were shot almost simultaneously. Wind blades were faster than small fireballs, thus some of the invisible blades mixed up with the fire on its way to beast's body, creating blue blades made from fire – they cut like steel and burnt like fire.

Meanwhile, Alicia had already reached the beast's main body and shot as many arrow jutsu as she could while at the same time dodging the snake. It was proving difficult because the snake was pretty fast and the beast's body was very chakra resistant. She found it difficult to remain on the body because her tree walking technique was not working very well. A few times, she was too close to falling or being bitten by the snake.

"_I think I shouldn't __have__ jumped here,_" she thought "_Oh well._"

The two heads didn't do anything, though. They were observing the girl on its back. Alicia was thankful for that.

The sharp fire blades, some wind blades and small fireballs which didn't mix up, finally reached its target – the left side of beast's body. The beast roared in pain, and for a moment, Naruto noticed that the beast's eyes changed: from the red, bloodshot eyes of rage, to glittering, white eyes full of tears and despair. It was for just a moment, but it was everything Naruto needed to understand two things – the beast was controlled and the only way to free it was to kill it.

With hardened resolve in his heart to ease the pain of the poor creature and to save another village, Naruto performed a large **Katon: Ao no Gōkakyū no Jutsu **which exploded right in the creature's left head. The two headed hound, once again, roared in pain and changed its attention from Alicia to Naruto.

Both heads inhaled a large breath and Naruto widened his eyes. Thanks to the Rinnegan, he saw and felt the chakra spike in beast's body. With no time to think it over, Naruto quickly summoned a large **Doton: Doryūheki** which spread for an entire street.

Alicia too felt the chakra spike, so she decided to get off the body, besides, the idea to jump on it was stupid to begin with, anyway. She sensed that the snake was getting closer to her right side. Getting annoyed at the tail-turned-snake, she performed a very quick **Holy Release: Storm Arrow**. It was the same lightning arrow, though it was much weaker than **Force of the Skies** which she used against Goro. But it also required less handseals and less chakra, thus it was perfect for the current situation. Just before the snake's open mouth could reach Alicia, a bright, but not so bright, lightning arrow shot through the midsection of the snake's body. The snake abruptly stopped and retreated, hissing in pain. Thanks to the arrow being made from lightning, it also paralyzed the snake for a few seconds. It was enough for Alicia to flap her wing and get off the body.

The beast finally exhaled towards Naruto. But it wasn't air that came out, no. Two huge torrents of fire shot from the beast's two heads and combined into one powerful fire storm which flew towards Naruto's earth wall. The fire breath finally collided with the earth wall in a loud _BOOM_! Because of the obstacle, the fire was repelled onto the nearby ground, trees and buildings. Everything was scorched and destroyed – trees were reduced to ash, buildings were set aflame and creating a lot of smoke, and the ground beneath the earth wall was _melting. _The fire was so strong because of how much bijuu chakra was used to make this fire.

Naruto felt the heat and his eyes were still widened "_It can actually breath fire?!_" He was shocked. He didn't think that the creature, which was literally created, could use and meld chakra. Summon animals were the only ones capable of that! In mere seconds, Naruto's mud wall gave cracks.

"_No way!_" the boy though "_It actually destroyed my earth wall?_"

The wall finally shattered and Naruto had only a split second to react. He was stupid enough to stay where he was when he created the wall, so now he had to deal with it.

"_I can't absorb it all so there's only one way._" his mind managed to think before he shouted each word as loudly and powerfully as he could, while extending both his hands in front.

"**SHINRA!**"

"**TENSEI!**" Naruto finished and pushed as much chakra as he could into the jutsu.

The air around him heavily twisted and created a large and strong gravity field. The strongest he could create. The fire collided with gravity barrier full force and the earth shook. Naruto continued to push as much chakra as he could muster and continued to push his jutsu. His gravity sphere kept growing and the only thing Naruto could see was fire, deep red fire all around him. Naruto actually felt heat coming from it despite his barrier.

"_Power of bijuu chakra, even in small amounts, is truly terrifying._" Naruto thought "_I need to hold for a while longer. If I let go now, the fire will consume me._"

Alicia landed on a safe building, not far from Kakashi and the civilians. She stared at the fire and couldn't help but to be worried – she had just met the one she was destined to help, and now this beast was going to take him away. She will have to help the world alone. Alicia shook her head "_What am I thinking? If he really is the one I have to help, he can't die here._"

Even Kakashi and all the civilians stopped to look at the fire which was clearly visible from their current position. Well, they didn't get very far anyway, everything was happening too fast. All of them felt the heat and all of them knew who the fire was aimed at. They actually saw how the fire was destroying everything in its path – wooden buildings, trees, ground.

"_It's a shame I can't use your chakra cloak._" Naruto said.

"_**Indeed. For some reason, which is unknown to me, this ability is locked for you. You can still use my chakra for jutsu though," **_Kyuubi answered.

Just when Naruto began to have difficulties holding off the fire any longer, he felt a familiar feeling – power – surge through him; It was warm, comforting and welcome. It was Kyuubi's chakra. Naruto used all of Kyuubi's chakra he could at the moment and pushed it into his Shinra Tensei. Some orange ripples appeared on the gravity sphere and Naruto felt less pressure from the fire.

With a final shout of "**Ethereal Shinra Tensei!**" the sphere increased in size and power. The earth beneath him trembled and crumbled, nearby buildings collapsed from the sheer pressure from the gravity (they were half-destroyed by the fire anyway) and Naruto found himself floating in the middle of the gravity sphere, which was easily pushing the fire back. He didn't know why he shouted 'ethereal', but it just came into his mind. But he was sure of one thing – the power which was going through him was unreal. It's the first time he experienced such a feeling. He indeed was powerful, all thanks to Kyuubi's purified chakra, and his Rinnegan.

As quickly as it came, the fire disappeared. Looks like the little two headed beast ran out of breath. It was panting slightly.

When the fire died down, everyone saw Naruto. Their eyes widened because they could actually _feel_ the power coming from him. Naruto was still there, in midair, surrounded by the gravity sphere. Orange chakra-like aura was radiating from him. It wasn't a chakra cloak, but it was similar. The aura slowly receded back to Naruto's body, and the boy himself landed softly on the ground. He looked around and was awed at the power he just displayed. It still drained him and he was slightly panting.

The beast finally caught its breath and it looked at Naruto with fear in its eyes. Primal instinct kicked in, and in a quick motion, it turned around and leaped in to the air, looking for its new prey – Kakashi, Sakura, Sasuke and the civilians. The beast hoped that maybe Naruto will leave it alone if it killed and devoured everyone else.

Naruto widened his eyes. There's nothing he could do to save the civilians – simple earth style wall will be easily destroyed by the sheer size and weight of the beast, besides, there wasn't enough time because the beast was already in peak of its jump.

Sasuke, Sakura and Kakashi understood that as well. They could escape because they were shinobi, but their morals and teachings won't allow them to abandon the people. So they decided to act.

But before any of them could start to do any hand seals, they heard a loud feminine shout "NO!" and saw a large white wing and long, elegant feather dress flash in front of them.

It was Alicia. Using her one wing and chakra she rushed towards the crowd of people as fast as she could, leaving a trail of floating white feathers, which fell from her wing, behind her.

"I won't allow that to happen again!" she shouted, anger and fear evident in her crystal clear eyes. Whatever happened in her past, made her act on pure instinct for protecting people; Whatever happened in her past, saved many innocent lives today.

The beast started to fall down, its sharp claws aimed at the crowd and its snake-tail's mouth wide open, ready to eat someone alive.

Alicia raised both of her hands, which were now bow-free, in the air and extended her one wing to it's full size. With a final shout of "STAY AWAY!" a large, blue, transparent dome appeared above the heads of civilians and ninjas, which seemed to be made from shells of tortoise. The dome was approximately 1 meter above Kakashi's head.

Even a second hadn't passed when the two headed beast crashed into the dome, heads first.

Large cracks appeared on the dome and Alicia let out a scream of pain and collapsed to her knees, but remained strong and held her hands in the air. The beast fell to the ground, a bit confused and distracted. The snake-tail had a mind of its own though. It lashed forward with all its might and speed and collided with the cracked dome.

The snake didn't get through and was repelled so hard, that it crashed into a nearby building, making a big hole in there. The snake-tail was successful in one thing though – it managed to destroy the dome.

Even larger cracks appeared on the dome and after a second, the shells started to fall from the dome and disappear in mid-air, making a big hole in the blue dome.

"Run," Alicia simply said, but it was loud enough for everyone to hear. As on cue, all the civilians started to run away further from the beast who was already regaining its composure. Alicia, on the other hand, fell unconscious to the ground, her wing disappearing and battle attire changing in a white flash.

"Alice!" shouted Sakura and ran to the girl.

"**Katon: Ao no ****Gōkakyū no Jutsu!**"

"**Fuuton: Daitoppa!**"

Sakura stopped in her track and looked into the sky, where the voice, or rather voices, came from. She saw at least 15 Naruto's in the air. In the next second, all the sky was colored blue and the evening became hotter. Everyone stopped running again, and looked in to the sky.

Half the Naruto's let out a stream of fire from their mouths, while the other half created a gust of strong wind. Both fire and wind mixed, creating large, deep blue, focused stream of blazing fire which was quickly approaching the two headed beast.

"_It is weakened and exhausted and this attack should weaken – if not kill – it even more,"_ Naruto thought.

The fire stream finally reached it's target and the beast roared in pain as everything in 2 meter radius exploded in blue fires, picking up debris and dust. The entire North part of the village was destroyed as a result of the beast's fire breath, Naruto's shinra tensei and mixed fuuton and katon elements.

When the fire finally died down, Naruto's kage bunshins started to pop away from existence and the original Naruto landed near the collapsed Alicia.

"Alice!" he shouted. He saw that Sakura was the closest, so he asked her "What happened? I didn't really see what happened here when this creature jumped."

"She created some kind of shield, a dome, around us which protected us from the beast. Then she fell unconscious. I don't know what happened."

"Chakra exhaustion," Kakashi explained when he came closer, glaring suspiciously at the beast. "That shield she created... It's like nothing I've seen before. From the looks of it, the shield was pretty strong because it resisted two tremendously strong attacks, but it also looks like it drained a lot, if not most, of Alicia's chakra." he explained.

"I see," Naruto said "I hope she is alright, she risked a lot back there."

The civilians, seeing that everything calmed down, approached the ninja team with awe filled eyes. Well, they should be surprised – even if they lived in a ninja world, they had never have seen a battle of ninja, let alone a battle on this scale.

Then, everyone heard a slight whimper, a whimper of a beaten dog. The civilians shuddered in fear, whereas the ninjas looked at the source of the whimper.

It was the two headed hound. Its snake-tail was nothing but a lump of burnt flesh, the main body of the beast was covered in dark red blood and deep burn marks. Strangely it didn't smell, not even a bit.

The beast was laying on it's side, all four eyes settled on Naruto's. A single tear, which will never be shed, appeared in beast's left head's left eye's corner. Naruto noticed it. He also noticed that those eyes were crystal clear – all insanity and rage vanished, replaced by sorrow and, strangely, loyalty. The chakra stopped leaking out from beast's ears and stitches.

Everyone, except Naruto, readied themselves – took battle stances and prepared to use any jutsu. Naruto raised his hand and signaled his teammates to calm down. Reluctantly they calmed down, though they didn't let their guard down.

"**Th-thank you...**" quiet voice whispered throughout the entire village "**For freeing me f-from those ****m-madmen****. M-My chakra and s-soul w-was extracted and tortured, ridiculed and manipulated. T-Thank you.**" Each passing word became quieter and quieter until only those nearby the beast could hear them.

Kakashi, Sakura and Sasuke widened their eyes and only Naruto remained calm and collected. Although it was the beast who spoke, the beast's mouth – or mouths – weren't moving. It looked like everyone could hear the beast's thoughts.

"Who are you?" Naruto asked the beast, though he already knew what the answer was.

"**S-Sanbi.**" the beast answered, its eyelids half closed "**The three tails... What is your name, ****chosen one?"**

Naruto knew that the beast was one of the bijuu.

"Chosen one?" Naruto asked.

"**Bearer of the sacred eyes, Rinnegan. Just like Father had.**" the beast took a deep breath "**The savior or destroyer... Though you look more like the former.**"

Naruto didn't comment on that, he knew the beast – no, the Sanbi – had few seconds left. "Naruto. Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze."

Sanbi didn't say anything for a moment, but then answered "**N-Naruto... Thank you! And thank that bird-girl for me as well.**" the bijuu, in the two headed beast's body, closed its eyes and stopped breathing. Naruto, and everyone else present, will remember the next few seconds forever.

The two headed hound started to glow with a deep red aura, or chakra, or whatever, which intensified with each passing second. Naruto wanted to shout for everyone to run, tell that the beast is gonna explode, he felt the charka rising. But he couldn't – something prevented him from doing so. Naruto knew that the body was going to explode, but he also somehow knew it's harmless.

Deep red changed to pure white in mere moments and exploded. But it didn't explode in fire, gore and blood. No.

The light and body of the beast exploded like a firework, but instead of a colorful fire, thousands of shining, rainbow colored-like substances emerged from the body, flying and circling in the air. It had a shining head, or sphere, and a long, rainbow colored tail behind. They were making a weird, faint sound, but there were so much of those pyreflies, that the sound sounded like a song; Like a cry. It was truly beautiful.

Naruto noticed that all that was left of two headed body were these pyreflies*1*.

"_Pyreflies? Where did that come from?_" Naruto asked himself. "_Oh well._"

No one could avert their gazes from these pyreflies. They were the spiritual and physical manifestation of lifeforce, born from a bijuu's soul, wild and pure chakra and mixed up with another, innocent, soul. They were the manifestation of pain and suffering, sorrow and despair, purity and impurity of two souls. Naruto didn't know how he knew these things, he just knew. Watching these pyreflies were both sad and beautiful. Slowly, the amazing manifestation of souls started to dissipate in the air and the only thing what reminded everyone of the recent battle were the dozens of bodies outside of the village, and the destroyed north wall and side of the village.

Every one stood there in silence for one more minute, until one random civilian said, "That was... amazing."

Another woman replied "Y-Yeah. But, for some reason, it was also sad. What were those things? Where did they came from and where's the beast's body now?"

Naruto turned around with tired eyes, the new Shinra Tensei drained him a lot. He answered "They are called pyreflies. They are the manifestation of two merged souls, manifestation of pain and sorrow, anger and rage. When we killed the beast, the soul was set free. All the pyreflies you saw were a small piece of one soul."

"How do you know that?" Kakashi asked.

Naruto shook his head "I-I don't know. It like... I've always knew it. Listen, can we go to bed please? I'm tired."

"Are you alright?" Sakura quickly asked. She also was feeling tired, more than Sasuke or Naruto. It was strange that her blonde teammate wanted to go to bed – it was very rare when Naruto felt tired. Sasuke had the same thought.

After a brief silence, Naruto answered, "I'm fine. I just... have to think about some things. I'll go back to the inn, luckily it wasn't destroyed. If you need me for night watch or something, you know where to find me. Good night." and with that, Naruto left.

Sakura wanted to go after him, Naruto was acting really strange, but Sasuke stopped her from following by placing a hand on her shoulder. Some years ago, Sakura would've screamed in joy that Sasuke touched her, but now, she just sadly looked into his onyx eyes.

"Just let him be, Sakura. He went through a lot today."

"Indeed." Kakashi agreed with Sasuke. "First, that divine interference, or whatever, then the battle, and then the two headed beast. There's a lot of pressure on him. Let him sort all these thoughts." he finished and then thought _"If __we were __to believe what __the__ beast said, then it was Sanbi. I thought all bijuu are ruthless, emotionless and has a great bloodlust. I wonder if that's true. And what did it mean by 'father'?"_

Sakura sighed. It's not the first time she admired Naruto – after that event with Alicia at noon and he still was being strong and cheerful for the entire day. If it was Sakura, it would have been too much for her. She wanted to be with Naruto now, to tell him that he had friends and that he is not alone through all this ordeal. Well, she might as well say it later.

"It's still too early to go to sleep though. Let's clean up a bit and help the villagers." Sasuke said. He was also tired from the recent battle, but they still had to help the villagers. Naruto was not the only one with heavy thoughts on his mind, Sasuke was thinking why he didn't feel anything when he killed those men. He waited for that moment so long, yet it's not what he expected. "_Does it mean that my mind is damaged?_" he bitterly thought, but shook those thoughts away. Now was not the time for that.

"Before we help the villagers we should carry Alicia to somewhere more comfortable. She is unconscious after all." Kakashi deadpanned and pointed at the girl laying unconscious on the ground near Sakura.

Sakura sheepishly smiled and nodded.

"Sasuke, check the fields around the village, maybe there are some survivors or more ninjas coming. When you're done, return and help us." Kakashi finished.

Sasuke nodded and jumped on the nearby rooftop and then on the wall.

* * *

**-Unknown location-**

Orochimaru entered the deserted building, his black cloak with red clouds swaying behind him in the strong breeze from the outside. He closed the door and the wind died down in an instant. The man took a few steps into the poorly lit room and sensed that someone was there as well. Orochimaru wasn't even a bit worried.

"How was it?" someone asked from the other side of the room. A tall man, with the same black cloak with red clouds, stepped out from the shadow. He had an orange mask.

"I had some trouble." Orochimaru answered in his ever so present hiss-like voice.

Tobi, the masked man, narrowed his one visible eye. "Trouble?"

"Kakashi of the Sharingan and his team. I didn't even know they were in the village." Orochimaru answered "They dealt with all those weaklings I managed to gather."

"Who were _his_ teammates?" Tobi asked.

"I don't know." Orochimaru said. He didn't like to answer to anyone, but the man in front of him was powerful, he felt it. Besides, he had his own reason to obey and work with the man. "I waited for a distraction and then silently went into the town and summoned the beast. Kakashi saw me though, but couldn't stop me."

"I see. Whether Kakashi lives or dies is not a problem for us and for Akatsuki. He doesn't know anything anyway. What about the beast? Was it all for naught or did the plan go well?"

"It depends on what you think as 'well'." Orochimaru smiled in that sick way of his, "In my opinion, it went rather went. When I summoned the beast through the scroll, it still lived, but the demonic chakra was gradually leaking out from the body. It wouldn't last long anyway. From what I saw from the distance, some jutsu didn't work on it, while others did. The hound heads worked in unison whereas the snake retained its own consciousness, though all of them worked together."

"I see." Tobi said "What about the Katon element?"

Orochimaru grinned "Oh, it was perfect. Even from a safe distance, I could feel the power of that flame. It obliterated trees and destroyed wooden homes in an instant." Then the man frowned. "There was a moment when I felt a huge spike of really powerful chakra, more powerful than my own, but it died down quickly. I guess that fire destroyed the _poor_ human. After some more moments, there was another chakra spike though it wasn't as powerful as the first one. Then I felt the beast die, so I left."

Tobi nodded. "Can you think of any improvements?"

Orochimaru grinned again "Oh yes. First, I want to stress that the beast would've died even without any resistance because the chakra, which kept it alive, would've leaked out and disappeared. I've thought of some ways to improve it. Secondly, I think there's a way to control the beasts."

"How so?"

"This experiment is very similar to that of a curse seal. I can take notes from both projects and do something about it, stabilize the beasts, maybe."

Tobi nodded "I see. Well, we will continue then. There's still plenty of Sanbi's chakra left, so it should be enough. I want a full report on what you saw and think, and on the ways you can improve it. Maybe I could think of something as well." After a brief pause, Tobi continued "It's a pity I didn't see it dying. I've heard stories that souls cry in joy when they are freed..."

Orochimaru frowned "What do you mean?"

Tobi shook his head "Never mind. Let's go, there's an Akatsuki meeting soon and a new mission."

"Very well, Tobi-san."

* * *

**-Next morning, Glass Village-**

Naruto opened his eyes and yawned. He looked out of the window and saw the sun was already high, which meant it was near noon. He heard some birds joyfully chirping outside, singing about peace and life. It's so good to sleep in once in a while.

He laid in the bed for some more minutes, remembering last night.

"_I guess I'm that kind of a person who accepts heavy burdens like it's __a __walk in the park. __It's __all connected – the legend about the Rinnegan, me having the Rinnegan, me having Kyuubi, that dream and now this destiny. As much as I hate destiny and fate, I can't disagree that I was born to do great things. Or I just came into the world at the wrong place and time."_ Naruto sighed heavily and sat on his bed. "_The question remains – how did I__ know__ about those pyreflies yesterday? I've never heard of them and I've never seen them. Kyuubi thinks it has something to do with __the__ Rinnegan because knowledge just can't pop into your head. Or can it?..."_

Naruto finally stepped out from his bed and headed for the showers "_Yesterday... was my toughest battle. I killed so many, but I know that I had to. And I didn't receive almost any injuries. Even Sakura or Sasuke didn't have serious injuries, just some bruises and small cuts. Are we really that strong or the enemy was too weak? Then again, we had __the __element of surprise and most of them were chunins. But... I can't shake off the feeling that I become stronger when I'm in actual battle. Adrenalin? Don't think so. Is it another perk of the Rinnegan?_"

"Oh well," he said out loudly when he switched the hot water on "If I have _the_ Rinnegan, might as well become a legend and help the people I can. After all, that's exactly what I'd like to do, though Konoha's civilians are not very accepting. I wonder how they will react when they see my Rinnegan?"

After some more seconds he continued his inner debate_ "After yesterday, I feel like an important piece in a chess game where the players are Kami and someone else, but at the same time I know it's not true. Yet I'm still worried about how the people will react to my Rinnegan... The legend... Will they see me as the savior or as the destroyer?"_

After 20, relaxing, but with heavy thoughts, minutes in the shower, Naruto finally stepped out with a towel around his waist.

"Chunin exams will tell either I'm savior or destroyer. Knowing me, I'm the former, but who knows what might happen?" he muttered as he dressed up and left the inn.

The sun was shining bright and warm, caressing Naruto's skin. Naruto looked around and noticed that the village was quite busy, most men were carrying some logs and stone.

"_I think they're rebuilding the__ homes__that __were destroyed,"_ Naruto thought.

"Naruto," someone called from the left.

Naruto turned around to face the person who called him. It was Sasuke, who was slowly approaching Naruto.

"Hey, Sasuke." Naruto greeted "How are you?"

"I'm fine. Was a bit tired yesterday, but I'm fine now." Sasuke answered.

"I see. What about the others?" Naruto said when Sasuke finally approached him. Now both boys went to the place everyone was going – to the north side of the village.

"Sakura was very tired as well, she used some massive jutsu yesterday and then helped clean up a bit. Alicia woke up just an hour ago and now she is helping us rebuild the buildings and the wall. Kakashi..." Sasuke sighed. "For once, is being useful by helping the villagers as well. You will get a big surprise once we arrive at the north wall."

Naruto chuckled, he thought nothing could surprise him now.

After some minutes of walking and small chatting, they finally arrived at the north side of the village. It was quite busy – men and women alike were carrying various instruments, logs and stone, glass, etc. All of them were working hard to rebuild what was destroyed. Burnt buildings needed to be destroyed and rebuilt, some needed to be repaired. He also saw that something was being built in the villager's square, in the place where the beast was summoned and killed.

Suddenly the earth shook a little and a massive stone and mud wall rose from the ground some meters in front of Naruto.

"Let's take a break," Kakashi shouted to his genin and Alicia. All of them nodded and walked towards Naruto and Sasuke. They have seen him.

"Hey Naruto!" Sakura greeted.

"Hi everyone," Naruto said "How are things going?"

All of them sighed and Kakashi answered "Good. We offered some help in rebuilding the village and the people were more than happy to accept. We also received a letter from Hokage-sama."

"A letter?" Naruto raised an eyebrow as he sat on nearby bench "Oh right, yesterday morning we sent a message and informed ojii-san of our situation," he sighed. "What did it say?"

"Read it yourself," Kakashi said and handed him the letter he retrieved from his supply pouch.

Naruto opened the scroll and read,

_'Kakashi,_

_ARE YOU MAD? No, I think that's the wrong thing to say. 'ARE YOUR GENINS MAD?!' would be the right question. What were young Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura thinking when they offered their help? I know it was the right thing to do and I don't blame you or them. I hope you're well and alive when I send this letter. Please, reply as soon as you can. _

_Defending the village was not really your mission, but I will upgrade this mission to an A or S-rank, depending on what happens during the fight. And don't ask why I decided that because it's quite obvious – you had to infiltrate Orochimaru's base when the man was inside it, then you fought 36 ninjas who are chuunin and jounin and Kami knows what Orochimaru is planning. It's beyond what a B-ranked mission should have been. You and your team will be paid accordingly. I didn't send any reinforcements because I felt by the time they arrive you would either be already dead or victorious. Tomorrow night, Wahoki-san should be back in Konoha and give me his report and the things you obtained in the base. _

_If you're victorious then, knowing Naruto, you would like to stay another week in the village helping to rebuild it. Feel free to do so and return when you can. I expect a letter on your current situation very soon._

_Stay safe._

_Sandaime Hokage'_

Naruto sighed, closed the scroll and handed it back to Kakashi.

"Well, at least the mission was upgraded to the S-rank," Naruto said "When will you write an answer, Kakashi?"

"Probably this evening after we discuss everything."

"Umm, guys," Alicia said "It's probably not exactly the right time to say this, but can I come with you to Konoha?"

"Why?" Sasuke frowned.

Before Alicia could answer, Sakura said "I think it's because of what happened yesterday."

Alice nodded "Yeah. I think I said it many times, but each Valkyrie in my clan must find a person they will accompany for a certain mission. The Valkyrie will know who that person is from their dreams. I found the person I have to help, and besides, there's also the prophecy I told you. That's why I want to stick with Naruto."

Kakashi nodded "It makes sense, more or less anyway. I'm not sure whether to believe that prophecy, but I think Naruto will be happy with another friend," Kakashi said then remembered something "Do you have allegiance to any ninja village?"

"No," Alicia answered "Why?"

"Because you can't stay in Konoha just like that. You're clearly a ninja and Hokage-sama will sense it. He will not allow a ninja without village to stay in the village. If you want to stay in the village, you will need to become Konoha's ninja."

Alicia frowned "Is there any other way?"

Naruto shook his head. "No. Those are the rules and it's common sense. If I was Hokage, I wouldn't allow you to stay."

Alicia sighed "I don't have much choice, do I? I can't wander the Elemental Nation forever though, might as well join a ninja village. At least I will join with purpose and will have a chance to learn something."

Kakashi nodded.

Sasuke then decided to ask something "You know, Alicia, I noticed yesterday that you didn't use any normal jutsu. All the jutsu you used were with that bow of yours. Do you know anything else other than the bow techniques?"

Sakura was curious as well and she quickly added "And where did you get such a bow anyway?"

And Naruto "And where do those arrows come from?"

Alice chuckled "I guess if I'm joining Konoha then I should tell you something about my abilities. First, you should know that in the Tsukiko clan there are no other Valkyrie with similar techniques and jutsu. Everything depends on the person and his or her soul. When a Valkyrie gets her first wing, he or she also gets a weapon which, lets say, is creation of the Valkyrie's soul. No weapon is similar and the type of weapon, as I said, varies from a person's personality and soul. Swords, tanto, staffs, poles, halberds, spears, great swords, sword and shield, long or short bows, crossbows, even guns, and don't ask me what guns are because I'm not really sure myself."

Kakashi nodded in understanding. "And your, let's say, soul weapon is a long bow?"

Alicia nodded "Yes. As for the arrows – there is a unique storage seal on the handle of the bow and when I pull back the bow string, if it's not a jutsu, an arrow will automatically appear from the storage seal. I don't even know how much arrows there are – it has never run out. As for jutsu. Because each Valkyrie is unique, there were no scrolls with techniques and jutsu ever written. The only scrolls I had were on basic weapon use, chakra control, elemental chakra control and a detailed explanation on how to create your own techniques and style. I never had any scrolls on normal jutsu so I don't know any. I know only the jutsu I created."

"Impressive," Sasuke admitted "Creating your own jutsu and style is no easy job. You said that every, er, Valkyrie in your clan were unique, right?" After getting a nod, he continued, "What makes you unique from others?"

"A good question." Alicia said "I wield a long bow which is great for long ranged attacks and jutsu. Long bows are quite deadly, but I don't like to use force and to kill. That's why I started to develop my own style using long bows – I'm more of a long ranged support. If needed, I can shoot some devastating arrows and buy some time, if not, I can heal and protect others."

Sakura raised an eyebrow "Heal? Protect?"

"Yeah. I started to learn the healing arts. I've got some scrolls from the villages I visited and, to be honest, it's hard. I can quickly heal some minor cuts, but it takes so much concentration. As for the protection. Remember that huge dome like shield I created yesterday, Kakashi-san?"

Kakashi nodded "That was some impressive defensive technique. What was that?"

"I don't really have a name for it because it' still in development, but right now I can attach a small chakra like shield to any person which will protect from 2 small attacks and 1 medium attack. By small, I mean some kunai or shurikens, and by medium I mean a strong punch. It will not protect from any jutsu or chakra infused weapons, though. What you saw yesterday was a very strong shield and I managed to create it on pure instinct – I remember I created it, but I can't remember how."

"By the way, yesterday, before creating the shield, you shouted something about 'I won't let it happen again'," Kakashi said "I don't want to push you or anything, but did you fight beasts like from yesterday before?"

Alicia looked down and quietly said "No, I've never seen such beasts. A-And... I don't want to talk about it."

"So you're training to become a medic-nin then?" Sakura asked, trying to change subject from, what seemed, painful memories.

"Kind of. I don't want to be the one who sits behind the scenes and heals the injured, I want to be the one who is active in the battle, who can attack the enemy and protect the allies. I've even got some ideas on healing jutsus." Alicia said.

"Wow. I think you will find what you want in Konoha, because Konoha has produced one of the greatest medic-nin in history." Naruto commented.

"I wanted to ask you this but I didn't have any chance to, so I will ask now," Sakura said "Where is your clan from? I've never heard about Tsukiko clan in books."

"And you probably never will. For some reasons Tsukiko clan was very secretive and our history is long since lost. We come from over seas, from North-East and came to Elemental Nations centuries ago. For what reason we moved, I don't know."

"I see." Kakashi said "Well, that's everything we wanted to know. Lets get back to work. Oh, Naruto, I forgot to tell you something," after a brief silence, he said "No, I'll let someone else tell you the good news," he said with an eye-smile and went away.

"The good news?"

"Oh, right..." Sakura sighed "It's the villagers."

"What? What happened?" Naruto wondered.

"They are building a statue for you and Alicia."

"WHAT?" Alicia and Naruto shouted.

Sakura rubbed her temples "Oh. You didn't know as well, Alice." she sighed "Apparently they were awed by your performance yesterday. Especially Naruto. And don't forget what happened earlier that day, with that message and stuff. Everyone heard it."

Sasuke continued "There will be a large statue of Naruto slaying the beast and Alicia protecting the people, and smaller versions of us fighting the missing-nin. They are also gonna write something on them."

"Kami... Who even allowed it? Why did no one ask me? They are building me after all." Alicia cried.

"People suggested it, Gaiko approved and Kakashi-sensei allowed them to use you – us – as a models." Sakura said.

"So that's why Kakashi didn't want to tell this 'good' news himself." Naruto said as he frowned. He then grinned evilly. "Hey, we're going to stay here for about a week anyway to help people, so maybe we should take revenge or something?"

After a minute, all the teens were grinning like mad.

* * *

**-Week and a half later-**

Week and a half has passed and the Glass Village was almost like new – the northern wall was rebuilt and most buildings were repaired. Now the village was wasting its resources in building a statue for Naruto, Alicia, Sakura and Sasuke. Team 7 and Alicia were working hard every day to help rebuild the village – they used Doton to build walls, Suiton and Fuuton to clean the fields outside the village. It looked almost like new and the only thing that will remind everyone of the grand battle will be those statues.

Naruto also discovered another ability of his Nature path – he could channel his unique chakra into the earth and after some moments grass and various flowers starts to grow. Five minutes of constantly channeling chakra and Naruto was surrounded by ankle length fresh grass and various flowers – ranging from simple tulips to exotic lilies and beautiful roses. Just in some days time the village was full of beautiful gardens.

Naruto didn't know how he knew that it was his Nature path's ability, he just knew it. Kakashi and Sakura were very excited by this ability. Why? No one knows.

Kakashi also wrote a message to Hokage, briefly explaining what happened that night when the missing-nin attacked, including the two headed beast. Kakashi also wrote about Alicia, that she wanted to join Konoha and her connection with Naruto.

Now our heroes found themselves standing in Gaiko's office.

Gaiko stood up from his chair and cleared his throat with a glass of water. He then looked at the present ninjas and said "Thank you very, very much for what you did. If it weren't for you, our village would lay in ruins now. You showed great courage, strength and wished to help people. I've also heard that Alicia and Naruto-san here are not simple ninjas as I believed they are," Gaiko chuckled. "I would like to present some gifts from our village."

"No, you don't have to. We just did what was right," Naruto said. It felt wrong accepting gifts when you did what was right.

"You did what was right and I will do what _I_ think is right. You didn't need to defend the village, it wasn't your mission, so think of them as a payment. Besides, these gifts, or rather payment, will be better in your hands than ours," Gaiko kindly replied and opened a shelf in his desk.

"You see, I'm a ninja as well. Because of an injury I received in my youth, I had to retire. My chakra level is now that of a civilian, and my skills are forgotten," Gaiko continued, surprising everyone. He took out a green scroll from his drawer "Kakashi-san," Gaiko called and the one eyed man stepped forward. Gaiko took out three scrolls from his drawer – one black, one green and the last one pale blue with kanji for 'Cougar' "Take these scrolls and do with them as you see fit – either give it to your team or the Hokage."

Kakashi proudly accepted them. "Thank you, Gaiko-san. What are in these scrolls?"

"The black scroll contains a pair of katar weapons, the green one contains advanced Suiton and Raiton chakra manipulation exercises and some jutsu, whereas the last one is actually a summoning contract."

Kakashi raised an eyebrow "A summoning contract? I don't want to be rude, but who in their right state of mind would give away a summoning contract?"

Gaiko laughed "Oh, don't worry. The contract was mine and, as sad as it sounds, the boss summon didn't accept me as their summoner. She is quite a proud _kitty_. There's something else I would like you to have," Gaiko said and took a large, purple, transparent stone from his drawer. He held it with his two hands and handed it to Kakashi, who hid the three scrolls in his pocket.

"Don't tell me this is what I think it is," Kakashi said.

Gaiko chuckled "Well, I don't know what you think so I can't say what you think. Anyway, it's a glass ore. Found it some weeks ago, the last of of it's kind," Gaiko explained "This village has no means to process it so it's useless for us. I would like you to have it."

"So the rumors were true," Alicia said.

Gaiko merely nodded "I can't thank you enough. Thanks to your effort, no lives were lost."

"It was a pleasure to help you," Kakashi said and everyone smiled.

* * *

**-After 2 hours-**

It was almost 6pm and team 7, with Alicia, were now deep in the forest, a distance away from the Glass Village. They were traveling in comfortable silence, a slight breeze caressing their skin. The glass stone, which was generously given to them by Gaiko, rested in the storage scroll created by Naruto.

Kakashi looked at all the present ninjas and said "Let's make a camp and rest fro a bit. I'm starving."

"Me too," Naruto and Sasuke said in unison as their bellies growled.

After 5 minutes they found a nice, small clearing near a stream of water. They made a small campfire and ate some bento. After another moment of silence, Kakashi addressed his team.

"I think you deserve some rewards," he said "Sasuke you're a close range fighter, so I think those Katars would be good for you. I think they suit you very well," he finished and tossed Sasuke the black scroll.

"Thanks," Sasuke eagerly replied. "I wanted to ask you for them anyway. I will check them later."

Kakashi nodded "Sakura. You're a Suiton user so I want you to have the advanced exercise and jutsu scroll. Alicia what elemental affinities you have?"

"Umm, I've got Katon and Raiton. Why do you ask?" Alicia answered.

"Just like Sasuke," Kakashi replied "Sakura, you can share that scroll with Alicia."

"Thanks!" Alicia replied.

"Naruto-" Kakashi started but Naruto interrupted him.

"Give the summoning contract to someone else. To Sasuke maybe."

Kakashi frowned "Why?"

"Because I already have a signed summoning contract," Naruto replied.

Kakashi slightly widened his one visible eye. He wasn't that surprised though, he suspected it since the fight with the beast. He asked anyway "Really? What animal?"

Naruto smirked "Wait 'till the chuunin exams."

"Right. Well, I'll give it to Sakura then," Kakashi said and tossed the pale blue scroll to Sakura.

"M-Me?" Sakura squeaked. She didn't expect to have a summoning contract for some more months and was a bit surprised when Kakashi offered her the summoning contract. She won't miss out this opportunity though so she caught the scroll and opened it. Surprisingly there were no other names on it. "_Strange,_" she thought.

She didn't think very long about it and bit her thumb to draw some blood. It didn't hurt at all because she was already accustomed to it, thanks to her bloodline. She wrote her name and surname on the scroll, just like she read in the books.

For a moment nothing happened and Sakura wanted to perform the Kuchiyose no Jutsu, she knew the handseals because she have seen Naruto perform the jutsu many times. But before she could do anything, she disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"What happened?" Naruto exclaimed.

Kakashi waved his hand "Nothing to worry about. I think she will be alright."

"What do you mean 'you think'?" Alicia asked.

"Well," Kakashi started "When a new user signs the summoning contract, the summon boss will feel it. Sometimes the summon boss might reverse-summon the new summoner to test him – then the boss summon will decide either to allow the new user to remain their summoner, or to reject him or her. It happens rarely though."

"Oh, I see," Naruto said.

Right then and there a 'pop' sound was heard along with some smoke. Sakura appeared in the place where she disappeared with a sad smile on her face.

"What happened?" Sasuke asked.

"I was, I think, reverse-summoned to the summoning realm. After one minute of talking with the boss summon, it rejected me." Sakura explained.

"Rejected?" Alicia asked. When Sakura nodded, she asked "Why? And who was the boss summon?"

"I don't really know. I didn't ask," Sakura explained "Sasuke, you try."

Sasuke looked at Kakashi, who nodded in response, and took the scroll. He opened the scroll and noticed that it was blank. Shrugging, he bit the thumb, just like Sakura, and wrote his name on it. Just like Sakura, he disappeared in a puff of smoke.

After some moments, he reappeared and shook his head "I wasn't accepted as well."

"Did you ask why?" Sakura asked. "I forgot to ask my self."

"Yes, I asked," Sasuke answered "The boss summon, a massive white cougar, said that they are waiting for someone special. The cougar clan is an ancient clan and they will only accept someone special. I don't know what they meant by that. She explained that in all her life they had only two summoners, and even that was in time of Rikudou Sennin. The boss summon said that she doesn't know what she is waiting for, but she will know once the right person comes."

"Right," Kakashi said "Someone wants to try? Alicia?"

Alicia shook her head "No, I will not. I have my own summoning contract which I will get once I materialize my second wing."

"I see," Kakashi said "Well, then I have no other choice. I will have to hand it to Hokage-sama."

"_**Kit, try signing the contract,"**_ Kyuubi said in Naruto's mind _**"Feline, the boss summon of cougars, is too proud to accept someone. She is not waiting for 'someone special', she just wants to meet a really powerful person.**_"

"_How do you know?_" Naruto asked.

"_**Actually Kitsune and Cougar clans are very friendly. In the past, when I was still sane, I met Feline who was then only a teen in her late 360ies. Even then she was the strongest from her age group and was next in line to become the boss summon. She was the one who helped me to create a summoning contract and bind me and my kin to it. She wasn't afraid of me like the rest were and she explained a lot of things to me,**_" Kyuubi explained.

"What a strange twist of fate," Naruto muttered loudly. Unfortunately everyone heard him.

"What? What twist?" Kakashi asked.

Naruto looked at Kakashi and everyone else who was looking at him, and shook his head "Never mind, I was just thinking about out loud." Everyone accepted the excuse and returned to their meals.

"_Well, even if there's a chance I would be accepted, I'm already __bound__ to your contract. A person can't sign and be summoner of more than one clan."_ Naruto said in his mind.

Kyuubi grinned in its cage _**"Just try it, Naruto."**_

Naruto shrugged his shoulders. It's not like it will work anyway, but if Kyuubi asks, then it knows something what Naruto doesn't.

"Actually Kakashi," Naruto called. "Pass me that contract scroll please."

Sasuke and Kakashi frowned and Sakura asked, "But Naruto, you already have signed a summoning contract."

Naruto smiled "Let's just see what happens. No one has ever done that before, right?"

"Yeah," Kakashi answered "But I don't think it is a good idea. You might even lose your current summoning contract."

Sasuke smirked. "I don't think Naruto will ever lose his current summoning contract."

"You'll see why in the chuunin exams, Kakashi. C'mon, just pass me the scroll please." Naruto pleaded.

Kakashi shrugged and tossed the scroll to Naruto "Suit yourself."

Naruto opened the scroll, and just like his other two teammates, he noticed that it was blank. He bit his thumb and wrote his name on the scroll. Just like he expected, he disappeared in a puff of smoke and appeared elsewhere.

* * *

**-Unknown location-**

He looked around and saw that it wasn't either a day or a night. It was twilight, a sunset. Surrounding flowers, grass and trees cast a slight shadow on the ground, creating an eerie, but comfortable atmosphere. Naruto looked some more and saw that he actually was in a forest. Various large trees surrounded Naruto, along with flowers, plants and bushes unknown to him. Naruto could even hear some small animals around – birds, rabbits and such. A beautiful forest indeed.

Naruto also noticed that numerous eyes were watching him, he couldn't see them, but he undoubtedly could feel it. He felt with his ninja senses that someone was walking and jumping through the shadows around him, casting a curious and cautious gazes at him. Then, he suddenly felt someone behind him.

His ninja reflexes sharp as ever, Naruto quickly spun around and summoned his sword and fell into his Kitsune kenjutsu state.

There was a _massive_ white cougar standing on all fours in front of him. It was pure white – no stripes, no spots, nothing. The cougar had a pair of long ears which were very similar to rabbit's with pointy end. Naruto also noticed that the cougar had very sharp claws and two long fangs sticking from the corners of its mouth. The cougar had unique eyes - deep purple sclera and iris with a black pupil in the middle - which were emotionlessly staring at Naruto's eyes. A long, longer than it should've been, white tail swayed behind the cougar.

Naruto, remembering what his teammates - especially Sasuke and Kyuubi - said to him, quickly sheathed his sword and did a small, curt bow.

"Feline-sama," Naruto greeted and the creature's deep purple eyes slightly widened before returning to what they were – emotionless.

Naruto finally stood back to his tall height and looked into the cougar's eyes. Naruto didn't even flinch at the power the boss summon radiated, he didn't even feel scared or awed by the creature's size or power – he had a bigger furball in his gut.

Kyuubi scoffed and rolled it's eyes _**"Next time you come here, I'll find a way to torture you. Oh what a sweet revenge it will be for all the times you called me '**_**furball**_**'."**_

Naruto simply answered "_You're welcome._"

Naruto was also quite surprised that he was summoned here. He didn't expect to be summoned and tested, he was sure the boss summon would reject him the moment his blood touched the contract. It seems that wasn't the case and he didn't know why.

"**Welcome, mortal, to the Forest of Cogaró-Twili,**" Feline, the boss summon greeted. If you listen very closely you could clear some kind of curiosity in her voice. Naruto was also quite sure that it was a female. Feline had a voice quite resembling a queen, someone who has both elegance, grace and power. "**I see you don't fear me. May I ask why? You're alone here, with both me and my kin.**"

"You're right, I don't fear you, Feline-sama. Nor do I fear your kin," Naruto simply stated. "Fear means weakness and I am by no means weak. Fear gives strength and confidence to your enemy. Besides, I don't want to be rude, but I've seen bigger and more fearsome creatures than you."

Feline nodded, the creature started to feel some respect towards Naruto, though she ignored the last comment about bigger and more fearsome creatures. She didn't think such a young ninja had a chance to see something more terrifying and fearsome. "**Indeed. Then I ask you this – how do you know my name? I didn't tell my name to anyone in past centuries.**"

Naruto smiled. "A friend told me."

"**A friend?**" Feline asked as she narrowed her purple eyes. "**Be as it may, I ask you – why do you think you're worthy of ****the**** Cougar clan's support? Why should we allow you to be our summoner?"**

Naruto chuckled "Actually I didn't expect to be summoned here in the first place."

Feline narrowed her eyes even further "**What do you mean?**"

The forest became dead silent. It didn't scare Naruto one bit, for which Feline respected him even more "Well, to tell you the truth I've already have signed a summoning contract with another clan. This friend I told you about earlier, told me to try to sign the contract. I didn't think I will be summoned here because I thought you will feel that I'm tied to another clan. I thought that my name will be removed from the scroll one I write it there."

Feline tiled her head sideways in a cute way which clearly showed her confusion "**If you're telling me the truth then I should have felt your connection with other clan. I would've never summoned you here. Can you prove it?**"

Naruto frowned "Is it possible to summon someone in another summon's homeworld?"

"**Originally no, but if the boss summon allows it then yes, it is possible. But I warn you, if the creature you will summon will show any aggression then I will use force,**" Feline explained.

Naruto nodded and Kyuubi said in his mind "**She is going to be in ****for ****a big surprise.**"

Naruto bit his thumb, again, and performed the Kuchiyose jutsu. Feline visibly tensed.

In a cloud of smoke, brown two-tailed fox appeared which was in a size medium dog, it's back reaching Naruto's knees.

"**You called, Naruto-sama?**" the fox yipped.

"Yes, Sairo." Naruto greeted "Don't show any aggression, please. We're in another summon's homeland."

Feline widened her eyes. "It's not possible," she muttered "I'm going crazy."

"**Feline-sama!"** Sairo, the brown two-tailed assist fox exclaimed. Surprisingly, Feline understood her. Sairo bowed in a fox way and said "**I've heard stories on how you helped Kyuubi-sama and it's an honor to meet you in person.**"

Feline nodded dumbfoundedly. She regained her composure and noticed that the fox in front of her had the same headband around the neck as Naruto. Feline asked "**Sairo, that was you name, right? Is it true that ****the ****ninja before me is a summoner of your kin? I fear my sanity should be questioned**** at ****this point.**"

"**Do not fear, Feline-sama, Naruto-sama is indeed our summoner. Bearer of the Rinnegan, holder of the Kyuubi-sama,**" the fox answered.

Feline's eyes widened "**Rinnegan?**" as on cue, Naruto activated his dojutsu "**Impossible. So you're the child from the legend. Wait, does that mean?...**"

Suddenly Feline's eyes changed from deep purple to purest black. Feline looked with these eyes at Naruto. She growled, which sounded more like a gasp, and shut her eyes close. When she opened her eyes they were back to her normal.

"**Your chakra is so bright, so pure and you have a power source in your gut which strongly resembles Kyuubi-sama. What the fox said is true and it's an honor to meet you, Senn'o'sanah. We, the cougars, ****have been ****waiting for you for a long time,**" Feline said as she bowed "**I'm still confused on why I didn't, and still don't, feel your connection with the foxes.**"

"_**I think it's **__**the **__**Rinnegan,**_" Kyuubi explained within his mind _** "Father's **__**main**__** ability was to summon various creatures which, as far as I remember, he used quite frequently. I think your Rinnegan evolved and allows you to sign multiple summoning contracts. If I'm correct, it is the Nature path. I'm surprised that your Nature path suddenly **_**decided **_**to develop so much.**_"

"Sairo, you can go." Naruto said.

"**As you wish, Naruto-sama.**" the fox replied and after another bow to Feline, disappeared back to its own realm in a cloud of smoke.

Naruto then spent the next 15 minutes explaining how he got the Kyuubi, about his Rinnegan and what Kyuubi said about his Nature path. He also briefly said things about his childhood and the recent battle and how he got the contract scroll. Feline was awed and shocked by Naruto's bravery, spirit strength and his still ongoing loyalty to the village.

After everything was told, Feline said. "**I knew from the moment you appeared here that you're no normal ninja, that's why you've been here far longer than the last two. I sensed some kind of strength in you and I was not mistaken. It would be an honor to fight alongside you, Senn'o'sanah, and ****the**** Kitsune clan. I accept you as my summoner.**"

The moment those words were spoken, Naruto felt burning on his right hand. The storage seal where he held his sword was on his upper wrist, but the burning was just a little above his under wrist. He looked at the burning place and saw that two symbols started appear on his wrist. They didn't appear just like that, no. They were burned into his wrist.

Naruto hissed in pain. As fast as it started, it disappeared though for Naruto, it felt like hours. He looked at the symbols under his wrist and saw that they were small kanji for 'Cougar' and 'Kitsune'.

"Nice," Naruto muttered "Now everyone will know what summoning contracts I have. On the other hand, no one will guess that I have multiple summoning contracts. I will have to practice summoning different animals. Handseals are one and the same, after all."

"_**It should be easy. Remember that originally, Animal path, now Nature path, required only a wish and a thought to summon an animal,**_" Kyuubi said "_**It should have the same concept.**_**"**

Naruto nodded, it made sense. He then remembered where he was "Oh, sorry, dazed off there for a sec. Anyway, what is a Senn'o'sanah anyway?"

"**It's a man, a ninja, from the prophecy.**" Feline explained.

"Great, another prophecy," Naruto muttered "What prophecy?"

"**You have ****the**** right to know it. But maybe some other time? I will just ****say**** that this prophecy is shared by many ancient animal clans. Don't be surprised when other summons call you like that. It's an honor, really. I will tell you what the prophecy is next time ****we ****meet. That is a promise, and we, cougars, keep our ****promises,****"** Feline answered.

"_Just like me,"_ Naruto though and said "Right. How long have I've been here, anyway?"

"**43 minutes, Senn'o'sanah,**" Feline answered.

"43 MINUTES?" Naruto exclaimed "Jeez, time flows quickly here. I should return back to my realm. I bet my teammates are worried by now."

"**I think that will be wise,**" Feline said. "**Until we ****meet**** again, Senn'o'sanah.**"

Another cougar, a black one, stepped out from the shadows and bowed to Naruto, "**'Till the next time you summon us, Senn'o'sanah. It will be an honor to tear into ****the ****flesh of your enemies alongside you."**

"Sure. I think that time will come soon enough. And don't be surprised if I summon you for no reason – I have to learn how to summon you after all," Naruto said "And please, call me just Naruto. It's creepy when you call me that Senno thing."

"**As you wish,**" Feline said and with a final bow, Naruto disappeared in a cloud of smoke back to where he was.

"-haha. You can't imagine his face. Hey, it's Naruto!" Naruto heard someone exclaiming. Sounded like Alicia.

The cloud of smoke finally dissipated and Naruto saw the worried faces of his teammates.

"Uh, hey guys," Naruto sheepishly said.

"Where have you been?" Sakura asked.

"Oh, just chatting with Feline," Naruto replied.

"The boss summon?" Sasuke asked "For so long?"

"Well, long story short – now I can summon cougars as well."

"You've become cougars' summoner?" Alicia asked suspiciously. "Is it possible to have two different animal summons at the same time?"

"As far as I know, no," Kakashi said and looked questioningly at Naruto.

"Oh don't look at me like that," Naruto said and waved his hand dismissively. "It's the Rinnegan. Remember I told you that the original ability of the Nature path was to summon various animals? Apparently the ability 'evolved' and I can have multiple summoning contracts. And don't ask how many I can have because I don't know."

Rinnegan. Always the Rinnegan. The excuse for everything unnatural and impossible happening with Naruto. Lately Naruto used this excuse way too much.

Naruto imagined in his head excited chibi Sakura shouting 'Hey! Naruto is glowing like a Christmas tree. Oh and his skin is glittering in the sun! Wow, he can breath under water! It's impossible! I wonder why it's happening.' and then chibi Sasuke answering in his usual uninterested tone 'It's the Rinnegan. Don't be surprised.'

The blonde boy wondered who he would be if he didn't had the Rinnegan.

"The Rinnegan has a lot of mysteries," Sakura said. "I bet you don't even know all of your abilities."

"Yeah," Naruto agreed. "I wouldn't be surprised anymore if I suddenly grew a pair of wings or extra arms, or something like that."

Everyone chuckled.

"Well," Kakashi started "Let's go to bed early today. Maybe, if we're lucky, we might return to Konoha by tomorrow evening."

"Ok. I'll go and start putting up my tent," Naruto said, and stood up.

"Naruto, look around," Sasuke said "The tents are already set up. We had to do something while you were _chatting_ with a cougar boss."

Naruto looked around and, indeed, the tents were already set up. Naruto laughed sheepishly and thanked his teammates.

After 'goodnight' from everyone, team 7 and Alicia departed to the land of dreams.

* * *

**-Next morning, 6am-**

"Wake up, sleepy heads!" Kakashi shouted and loudly yawned.

Naruto opened his eyes and croaked. Even if it was in a tent, he slept pretty well last night. He quickly put on his ninja outfit and stepped out from his tent.

Naruto yawned and greeted Kakashi "Morning, Kakashi."

Kakashi turned around and saw Naruto in his usual outfit, ready to go. "Good morning, Naruto. I'm surprised you're the first one who got up. For some reason I thought you will be the last."

Naruto chuckled "It seems I'm surprising you too much lately."

"Yeah," Kakashi said with an eye smile "I wonder when is going to be the next time."

"Morning," someone, who sounded pretty much like Sasuke, said from the left.

"Morning, Sasuke," Naruto and Kakashi greeted in unison.

"Are you ready for the morning warm-up?" Naruto asked.

Sasuke sighed and mumbled "Can it wait a bit? I just got up."

Naruto grinned "Nope!"

"Ugh, fine. Lead the way."

"We'll be back in 30 minutes, Kakashi. We will do some morning exercising," Naruto said and Kakashi nodded.

"More like a torture," Sasuke muttered and jogged alongside Naruto off deeper into the woods.

After about half an hour the duo returned and everyone were already up. The small ninja camp was smelling like warm breakfast, made by the two girls.

"Morning, boys," both girls said in unison.

"Morning."

"What's for breakfast?" Naruto asked, as his tummy growled.

After another 15 minutes, everyone was full and fed. Kakashi now said, "Now that we're finished, I think we should discuss our second mission as a team."

"What mission?" Sakura asked. "We have to return to the village if we want to accept another mission, no?"

"Not always. I received a message from Hokage-sama before you woke up," Kakashi explained "He offered us another mission, B-ranked. If we accept, we go straight to the mission place and don't need to return to the village. If we decline, well, we return to Konoha."

"Why us?" Sasuke asked.

"Yeah, why us? We just had a hard mission. Isn't there other teams available?" Sakura asked.

"There are, but he said, and I quote: _I would've had send other chuunin to this mission, but I need __chuunin__ for other, more important missions. Your team, Kakashi, are quite capable genins and would be as good as any __chuunin__. But they are only __genin __nonetheless, and would benefit from some high ranking missions under their belt._"

"Okay," Naruto said "And what's the mission?"

Kakashi glanced at Alicia and said "Because of Alicia here I can't tell you all the details."

"Hey!" Alicia exclaimed "I'm going to be a Konoha ninja anyway."

"Sorry, those are the rules. I will just tell you that this mission is in the Wave Country."

"Wave country?" Sakura asked "But if we accept, then Konoha is on our way. We could stop by."

Kakashi shook his head "No, it will take time. If we arrive in the village it will take almost half day, if not more, to leave – you would want to meet your family, friends, and Kami knows what else might happen. If we accept, we take a shortcut and go straight to Nami no Kuni."

"I say we do it," Sasuke said.

Sakura agreed "Yeah, it's not like this S-ranked mission was very long anyway. Yes, it was eventful, but honestly I'm not that tired."

"It's settled then!" Naruto exclaimed.

"Okay then. I'll write to the Hokage-sama now and tell him that we accept. I'll also tell him that Alicia will come alone," Kakashi said. Seeing Alicia's sad look, he said "Don't worry, we will give you some directions. And you will see us before you know it."

Alicia nodded and smiled a bit "Thanks. I actually, didn't want to go to any mission for a while anyway."

Kakashi pulled out ink and a blank scroll from his pocket and started to write "We will leave once I finish the letter. Prepare."

Everyone nodded and started to pack their things.

* * *

**END!**

**I hope you liked the chapter!**

***1* I don't know if I explained how those pyreflies looks good enough, but if you're curious, visit my profile, there will be two links. Those who played FFX might know what I was talking about.**


	11. Chapter 10 Entering the Nami no Kuni

I had a vocation recently so I decided to cut this chapter short and send it to my beta before going on vocation. Didn't want to make you wait longer than necessary. I received it back some days ago but can post it only now.

By the way, I decided to answer reviews by PM instead of posting it here. I won't answer 'good fic', 'great chapter' 'update soon' and so on, because I really can't see a reason writing a PM with 'thank you' each time. I'm really grateful with your support and feedback though. If there will be many reviews with similar question, though, I will both put the answer here and via PM.

_EDIT 14/04/2013: Thanks for my reader reviews I spotted some name spelling mistakes at the end of the chapter. Damn spellcheck, I swear to any deity above that I corrected them before uploading the chapter, but somehow fanfiction still screwed up with the file. If you spot any mire errors, please inform me._

Happy reading now!

* * *

**Chapter 10**

**Entering Nami no Kuni**

_Previously_

_With a final shout of __**"Ethereal Shinra Tensei!"**__ the sphere increased in size and power. The earth beneath him trembled and crumbled, nearby buildings collapsed from the sheer pressure from the gravity (they were half-destroyed by the fire, anyway) and Naruto found himself floating in the middle of the gravity sphere, which was easily pushing the fire back. _

_As quickly as it came, the fire disappeared. Looks like the little two headed beast ran out of breath._

_OoOoOo_

_"I won't allow that to happen again!" Alicia shouted, anger and fear evident in her crystal clear eyes._

_She raised both of her hands, which were now bow-free, in the air and extended her one wing to __its__ full size. With a final shout of "STAY AWAY!" a large, blue, transparent dome appeared above the heads of __the__ civilians and ninjas, which seemed to be made from __the__ shells of __tortoises._

_A__ second hadn't __even__ passed __before__ the two headed beast crashed into the dome, heads first._

_OoOoOo_

_**"Katon: Ao no G**__**ōkakyū no Jutsu!"**_

_**"Fuuton: Daitoppa!"**_

_Half the Naruto's let out a stream of fire from their mouths, while the other half created a gust of strong wind. Both fire and wind mixed, creating __a__ large, deep blue, focused stream of blazing fire which was quickly approaching the two headed beast._

_OoOoOo_

_The light and body of the beast exploded like a firework, but instead of a colorful fire, thousands of shining, rainbow colored-like substances emerged from the body, flying and circling in the air. It had a shining head, or sphere, and a long, rainbow colored tail __trailing__ behind __it__. They were making a weird, faint sound, but there were so __many__ of __the__ pyreflies, that the sound __was__ like a song; l__ike__ a cry. It was truly beautiful._

_Naruto noticed that all that was left of __the__ two headed body were these pyreflies._

_OoOoOO_

_Another cougar, a black one, stepped out from the shadows and bowed to Naruto, "__**'Till the next time you summon us, Senn'o'sanah. It will be an honor to tear into the flesh of your enemies alongside you."**_

_OoOoOo_

_"Okay then. I'll write to Hokage-sama now and tell him that we accept __the mission__. I'll also tell him that Alicia will come alone," Kakashi said. Seeing Alicia's sad look, he said "Don't worry, we will give you some directions. And __you'll__ see us__ again__ before you know it."_

_Alicia nodded and smiled a bit. "Thanks. I actually didn't want to go to any mission for a while anyway."_

_Kakashi pulled out ink and a blank scroll from his pocket and started to write. "We will leave once I finish the letter. Prepare."_

_Everyone nodded and started to pack their things._

* * *

_Now..._

"Kurenai-sensei," Kiba called out to his red-eyed sensei "She's waking up."

Everyone stopped. Kiba, Shino, Kurenai and Tazuna, the bridge builder, were in the middle of the road, surrounded by thick forest and thin mist. A small town could be seen some miles ahead. Both boys of Team 8 were carrying an unconscious, now slowly waking, Hinata on self-made stretchers.

To tell the truth, everyone was injured – Kiba's clothes were torn in some places, and he had some blood on his face. He also had one or two broken ribs, which made breathing difficult. Shino shared the same fate. Kurenai, on the other hand, had more open gashes on her body and she was heavily panting. Tazuna, the bridge builder, had the least injuries of all of them – he only had some bruises on his arms and face.

Kurenai approached Hinata, who was slowly waking up. Beside some broken ribs, bloody lips, a deep cut on her right side, and being unconscious, Hinata looked much better than her other two teammates.

"Hinata," Kurenai called gently as she pulled a strand of Hinata's hair away from the girl's slowly opening eyes. "How do you feel?"

"M-My head h-hurts..." Hinata quietly whispered. "It's l-like someone s-smashed my head against a wall."

"_It's not __far__ from __the__truth.__ Looks like she has some small memory loss."_ Kurenai thought and then said, "Try to sleep, Hinata. When we reach the village, we'll treat your wounds."

"Y-You don't look too well y-yourself, Kurenai-sensei," Hinata replied.

Kiba sighed. "Always worrying about others more than herself..."

"Indeed. She puts the well-being of her teammates above her own health," Shino added. "A true teammate."

"Isn't that what I just said?" Kiba asked harshly, and then mumbled, "Sorry."

"Apology accepted. All of us are tired with various injuries and it's only logical that we get annoyed easily," Shino replied.

Kiba's eyebrow twitched but he didn't give an answer. Meanwhile, Tazuna was silently observing the scene.

"Don't worry about us, Hinata, we'll be alright," Kurenai reassured Hinata. "Just try to get some sleep."

Hinata nodded. "O-Okay," and closed her eyes, immediately falling unconscious.

Kurenai stood up and narrowed her eyes dangerously at Tazuna. Despite her injuries, the bridge builder flinched at her stare.

"This is your fault," Kurenai began harshly as she addressed Tazuna "You gave us incorrect mission information and we got ambushed by two chuunin ranked missing ninja just a few miles away from Konoha. Thanks to Shino's and Kiba's quick reflexes, we were able to defeat them, but we still received some injuries. Despite you lying to us, we still decided to continue the mission. We thought there wouldn't be any stronger opponents. But then we met Zabuza Momochi! A high A-ranked missing ninja from Kirigakure, former Kiri ANBU, nicknamed 'Demon of the Mist'. Only thanks to Hinata's bravery and teamwork, Shino and Kiba are alive now and I managed to catch him off guard."

"Kurenai-sensei, I don't think this is the best time and place to argue about that," Shino said. "No matter what, we still need to get to the village."

Kurenai looked at Tazuna for a long time. The tension was almost visible in the air.

Kurenai backed off. "Yeah, I know. Sorry," she then looked at Tazuna once more. "I really hope the back up team arrives quickly, and pray to any god you believe in that we all leave this place alive. If not..." she trailed off, leaving the threat hanging in the air.

"Lead the way, Tazuna," Kiba said, with no manners in his voice.

"H-Hai," the man stuttered, and led the way to the village.

* * *

**-Hi no Kuni, East-**

1 and a half day has passed since Team 7 received the new mission. The members of Team 7 now found themselves in a small port city near the river. It was late at night now, and a cold breeze could be felt from the river's side.

"Nami no Kuni should be across the river. The Wave country is actually an island separated from the mainland," Kakashi explained to his genin.

"How do we get across? There are no boats nearby," Sasuke asked. Actually, the entire port village was deserted. It looked like no one lived there for a long time.

"I dunno," Kakashi shrugged "Any ideas?"

His question was answered with dead silence and some crickets chirping.

"Thought so. It's pretty late now; we should get some sleep," Kakashi continued. "We'll think of something in the morning."

"Before going to sleep, we need to find where to sleep," Sakura deadpanned.

"Right. We can make a tent in one of the deserted buildings. That way it will be warmer and will protect us from the cold wind," Kakashi said and led his team to one of the nearest buildings. After some minutes of checking it out, he said to his team, "This one will be fine. Set up the tents. Oh, and don't forget about the night watch. I will take the first and the last shift."

"Hai," Team 7 replied in unison and started unpacking.

"I hope Kurenai-sensei's team is alright. It's our new mission to assist and help them," Sakura said.

"Don't forget about our secondary mission – we need to get those two Kiri missing-nin who escaped ANBU," Sasuke added.

"I wonder how they escaped Leaf's ANBU team," Sakura wondered aloud.

"Apparently, those nuke-nin weren't there when ANBU arrived. They somehow escaped before the team arrived," Kakashi explained. Sasuke looked at Kakashi and couldn't help but be surprised – Kakashi's was already set up and the man himself was reading his orange book.

"What?" Kakashi asked when he saw Sasuke's surprised look.

"Nevermind," Sasuke replied and got back to setting up his own tent. "We still need to get over that river."

"We'll think of something tomorrow," Sakura said.

"_I wish __I had a__ flying summon,"_ Naruto thought as he set up his own tent. _"It would make things easier."_

"_**Life isn't easy, kit,"**_Kyuubi replied.

"_How right you are," _Naruto answered as he laid down in his tent. _"__When it's__ my watch, I will send a bunch of Kage Bunshins to scout the area. Maybe they will find some hidden boat or something else what may be useful."_

"_**Don't forget about training - you still need to finish that gravity jutsu. And make some of your clones practice that flower growing technique of **__**the**__** Nature Path. You haven't used Kage Bunshins lately despite it being your favorite jutsu,"**_Kyuubi said.

"_Being a favorite jutsu doesn't mean you have to use it whenever you can,"_ Naruto replied. After a minute of thinking, he continued _"I also need to practice __fighting__ with __the__ multiple visions. Argh, multiple field vision is so annoying."_

"_**But you can't disagree that it's pretty useful. By the way, how many field visions you can do now?"**_

"_For now, I can make only three additional field visions with my Kage Bunshin. I don't think I will be able to do four for a while."_

"_**Well, three is useful too."**_

"_Right. I'm going to sleep now, need to get as much rest as I can before going on my watch. Goodnight, furball," _he said to Kyuubi, then shouted the same to his teammates (shouted because he was already in his tent) "Goodnight, guys. Wake me up once it's my shift."

"'Night," he heard three voices replying.

Naruto heard Kyuubi sighing, but he didn't see the fox's eyebrow twitching _**"Goodnight to you too, Senn'o'sanah."**_

Now it was Naruto's eyebrow time to twitch his eyebrow in annoyance.

* * *

**-Next morning-**

It was an early, gloomy morning – large rain clouds covered the sun, promising rain any minute now, and the cool breeze from the sea didn't do anything to cheer up this gray morning. Team 7 has just finished breakfast and were now packing their things.

"So, Naruto," Kakashi called the blonde boy as they left the house where they were staying in "Find anything last night?"

"Huh?"

"I sensed that you made a bunch of Kage Bunshins," Kakashi explained.

"Oh, right. You spoiled all the fun, Kakashi," Naruto said as he grinned "I wanted to reveal what I found after someone asked 'How will we cross the river?'"

"I take it you found a boat last night?" Sasuke asked.

Naruto nodded happily, "Yep! It was well hidden in one of the houses. Me and my clones had to drag it out and carry it to the shore," he explained "The boat's quite old but it's sturdy enough to get us to the other side."

Thanks to this news, Naruto managed to brighten the mood of of his teammates.

An hour later, Team 7 found themselves on the other side of the river, in Nami no Kuni. They stepped out of the boat and noticed that the shore, and the forest ahead of them, was encased in a thin mist.

Kakashi narrowed his eyes. "This is no natural mist. It's slowly dissipating, but it is certainly filled with chakra. Stay on your guard."

The three teens of team 7 tensed up, but otherwise remained and seemed quite calm. After 15 minutes of silent walking along the road, deeper into the forest, they came across a clearing near a river.

The mist was almost gone, so team 7 stopped and surveyed the area.

"Looks like some kind of battle was fought here," Sakura commented.

Indeed, the clearing in front of them had certainly seen better times – some of the trees were destroyed, some had deep cuts on them. The entire ground was filled with large puddles, the aftermath of a large Suiton jutsu. Naruto, with his sharpened vision, saw that some puddles had dead bugs in them. Besides the puddles with the bugs, there were also some small craters, which looked as if someone tried to drill through the ground. Shuriken and kunai were scattered around the field – some were embedded in the trees, some were laying uselessly on the ground.

"_Judging by the drill-like craters, it must be Kiba's Gatsuuga. And those bugs are Shino's,"_ Naruto thought. _"We're close to Wave City then."_

"Looks like Kurenai and her team got into another fight," Kakashi voiced Naruto's thoughts. "I hope they're alright."

"Do you know where the city is?" Sasuke asked his squad leader as they resumed walking.

"Yeah. I've been here before, when I was still a chuunin," the man answered.

"How far 'till we get to the city?" Sakura asked. She really wanted to meet her academy friends and check if they were alright.

"Not far. About an hour or so, and we'll be there," Kakashi replied.

"Let's hurry up then," Naruto said urgently. "I wanna know what happened here and if everyone's alright."

"You worry about others too much," Sasuke said. "They'll be fine. Kiba and Shino are no pushovers, besides they've got Kurenai with them, who, I want to remind you, is a jounin."

Naruto didn't comment on that. The rest of the way they went in silence, Naruto guarding the rear, Kakashi the front, Sasuke and Sakura the sides. If there was a battle nearby with unknown victors, it was better to be safe than sorry.

After an hour, just like Kakashi said, team 7 reached Wave City. The genin of team 7 were shocked at what they saw as they walked through the streets – tattered and destroyed buildings; poor and hungry men, women and children begging on the streets; half empty stores with old food. The town clearly had seen better times.

"Why would anyone live here?" Sasuke asked.

Naruto looked at the faces, eyes, of the people he passed by – they were hopeless and sorrowful.

"It's their home," Naruto answered. "They have nowhere else to go."

He had been in the same situation once in his life – when he was kicked out of the orphanage. He didn't have anywhere to go to ask for help; he was always hungry and thirsty, and he had to sleep on the streets. He didn't hate the civilians, he never did, but at one point, he had wanted to leave the village. But he never did because Konoha was his home, and besides he didn't have anywhere else to go. Though everything changed for the better when he met the Ichiraku family and when Sandaime Hokage had found him.

"What happened here?" Sakura couldn't help but ask.

"We need to find Kurenai and her team. They will know better," Kakashi said.

"And how are we supposed to find them?" Sasuke asked.

Naruto grinned "Easily. Let's just ask around. It's a small town, probably someone knows a man named Tazuna. If they don't know him by name, then probably they will know him by his reputation as 'the bridge builder'."

Speaking of the bridge – the first thing team 7 noticed when they entered the town was the big, unfinished bridge at the right side of the town. It would be finished in about two weeks time.

"You're searching for Tazuna?" Someone asked from behind them. The group of ninjas turned around and saw a beautiful young woman in front of them. She had long, dark blue hair and she wore long, dark blue trousers with a pink jumper with a pink collar. "Who are you?"

"We're ninjas from Konohagakure, here to assist our other team," Kakashi replied and his genin stayed back and watched, "And you would be...?"

"Oh, where are my manners?" the woman chuckled. "I'm Tsunami, Tazuna's daughter. You're here to assist Kurenai-san and her team, right?"

"Aren't we lucky today!" Naruto exclaimed. "My ideas are the best ones!"

"No, we were just lucky that she overheard us," Sasuke deadpanned.

"Sasuke, you always have to spoil Naruto's fun, don't you?" Sakura said, as she sighed.

"Well, someone has to do it," Sasuke replied.

"Some friends you are," Naruto said in mock-hurt voice.

Tsunami chuckled at young ninjas' antics. "Kurenai-san said that Konoha will send a strong team as a backup. I don't want to be rude, but aren't you a little too young to be this 'strong backup'?"

Naruto waved his hand dismissively, and said, "Nahh, don't worry, we get that a lot lately."

"Yeah. We're pretty strong," Sakura answered seriously and Tsunami couldn't help but be a bit surprised at her tone. "Remember, a ninja's greatest weapon is deception."

"That was my line," Naruto muttered but, of course, no one heard him. Or they pretended they didn't hear it.

Sakura continued. "We can seem like kids to you but, despite that, we can deal with a threat without any hesitation."

"R-Right," Tsunami stuttered a bit. She didn't believe a girl that age could sound so serious and deadly. She quickly hid her shock and said "Follow me then. I'll get you to our house."

In complete silence, the group of five people slowly made their way to the east side of the village. Along the way, team 7 noticed more poor people and empty stores. That was when Sakura decided to ask about it.

"Tsunami-san," she called. "Why is this town so... for the lack of better word, poor?"

The woman sighed. "It wasn't always like that. Years ago, Wave City was a prosperous town. But then Gato and his thugs came."

"Wait, Gato? As in Gato of the Gato Company?" Sakura asked.

Tsunami nodded. "Yes. He came here some years ago and took control of the Land of Waves' shipping routes and created a monopoly by isolating the country from the outside world, preventing free import and export and turning it into an impoverished, hunger-stricken country in the process."

"Why didn't you stand up against him?" Naruto asked,

"We tried some years ago, a brave-" Tsunami paused here for a second, a single tear running down her cheek unnoticed by anyone. "-man led us. His name was Kaiza. Gato publicly executed him to show what would happen to those who stood up against him. Kaiza's death immensely demoralized the people of Wave, to the point that they no longer had the courage to stand up to Gato."

"This Kaiza. Was he someone important to you?" Naruto asked, and when he saw Tsunami lower her head he quickly added, "S-Sorry if the question is too personal."

Tsunami shook her head. "No, it's okay." After a brief pause, she continued, "Kaiza was my husband and stepfather to my son. Our family, especially my son, Inari, suffered the most after his death. Me and my father have overcome his death and found some courage to stand up against Gato. The courage which Kaiza inspired. Inari, my son, is still in emotional pain, though. Forgive him if he seems a bit rude," she finished, remembering what happened last night when Kurenai's team and their family were having dinner together.

"Kaiza was really brave, huh? And everyone loved him..." Naruto wondered, lost in his thoughts. He didn't even notice Tsunami's small smile.

"Why is this bridge so important anyway? Why would it be Gato's target?" Sasuke asked.

"Nami no Kuni is separated from the mainland by the sea, thus only sea trade is allowed which is heavily controlled by Gato, who in turn is keeping all the money to himself and leaving the people of Nami no Kuni in poverty," Kakashi explained, and Naruto continued Kakashi's train of thought.

"If Tazuna-san manages to complete the bridge, then it will allow much more trading to be done between Nami no Kuni and the mainland, which in turn means that Nami no Kuni will get more money which is not controlled by Gato. The bridge is a real danger to Gato's corrupt business," Naruto finished.

"So the bridge is very important to the country's survival," Sakura stated.

Tsunami nodded. "Seeing what kind of mess we are in now, father found the courage to start this project. He wanted to give hope back to the people, to save them from this poverty filled life."

"A great goal," Naruto said. "Just like me," he muttered.

"Excuse me?"

"Oh never mind..."

"Right. Anyway, we're finally home," Tsunami said as they approached a large home which was built over the inner city river. Naruto noticed that the home wasn't far from the actual bridge. He also noticed that unlike other homes, this one looked new, clean and in good condition. It was big enough to host a large number of people.

_"I wouldn't be surprised if Tazuna-san himself 'upgraded' his home,"_ Naruto thought.

"I think father is working at the bridge now," Tsunami said as she unlocked the door. "He usually spends his time at the porch."

They entered the house and noticed that it was just as clean and good-looking on the inside like it was on the outside.

"Tsunami, is that you?" came a voice, which belonged to an old, but energetic sounding man, from inside one of the rooms in the house.

"Yes, father, it's me," Tsunami shouted back as she and team 7 took off their shoes. "I thought you were at the bridge now. Didn't see you outside."

Team 7 and Tsunami made their way across the hallway and entered what seemed like the kitchen. Unlike the hallway, the kitchen was not empty – a large table with some benches and chairs, some simple looking shelves which held dishes, a medium sized fridge and an oven at the end of the room, made up the furniture in the area. Naruto also noticed that a single picture hung on the wall. It was a picture of Tsunami, a young kid and an old man, which Naruto assumed was Inari and Tazuna. A piece of the picture was torn and Naruto assumed it was the father of Inari.

"Bah, I decided to take a day off and have a chat with these ninjas here," Tazuna answered as he waved his right hand, indicating two other persons at the other side of the table "They were quite interested in the country and the bridge."

Naruto finally looked at other people in the room. And he wasn't surprised at what he saw – Kiba sitting opposite from Tazuna with his puppy Akamaru resting on his lap, who stared dumbfoundedly at team 7, and Shino, who was sitting next to Kiba, his hands in his jacket's pockets and was curiously observing team 7. Both boys, just like Tazuna, had a cup of tea in front of them. A small plume of smoke was coming from the tea, which meant that the tea was still hot, which in turn meant that it was made only a few minutes ago.

"I see you brought some guests with you, Tsunami," Tazuna said as he narrowed his eyes and observed the other ninja in the room, "Want to introduce us?"

Tsunami sheepishly chuckled. "I forgot to ask for their names," She then looked questioningly at Kakashi, the oldest from the new group.

"Sorry for not introducing ourselves when you did. I was thinking about life just then and after seeing such a stunning woman, all my manners ceased to exist," Kakashi said, and Tsunami chuckled and even blushed a bit. The rest of team 7 couldn't help but roll their eyes at one another at the 'Kakashi style' excuse. "I'm Kakashi Hatake. The blonde guy here is Naruto-" , here he paused a little and looked for a second at Naruto, thinking about something. He then continued, "-Uzumaki. The girl with the coat is Sakura Haruno, and the black haired guy is Sasuke Uchiha."

"Nice to meet you," Tsunami said.

"Likewise," the members of team 7 answered.

That was when Kiba regained his composure. Or should I say, lost the common sense. "WHAT THE HELL ARE THEY DOING HERE?"

"They are your back-up. At least they said so," Tsunami answered.

"Back-up? Some fresh genin, just like us, a back-up? Are you kidding me?"

"Be logical, Kiba," Shino said calmly, though he doubted Kiba has ever been logical. He doubted Kiba even knew how to be logical in the first place. "If Hokage-sama sent them, then there's a reason for his choice."

"I don't care!" Kiba continued his shouting, "We were expecting a team of chuunin at least, given the situation we're in. And what do we get? A dead last idiot, a pink haired fan-girl, and some emo who doesn't talk much!"

Kiba didn't even notice Naruto's eyes flash in anger, or the fact that Sasuke's and Sakura's hands were now balled into fists. He didn't even feel the small tension which was building in the air. Shino, on the other hand, saw it.

"Kiba-" Shino tried to calm down his friend, but he was interrupted.

"Only Kakashi-san is useful here. Because of that damn old man Hokage, our mission will fail! "

When he mentioned the Hokage, the tension in the air quickly rose and turned into a small, controlled KI. Before he knew it, Kiba was blown away from his seat and smashed against the opposite wall, making some cracks in it. Kiba hissed in pain. He looked at at the group of newly arrived people, and finally saw the anger in their faces, even Kakashi's barely visible face was angry, though it was well hidden and controlled.

Kiba, still being on the wall, finally looked at Naruto. He felt that most of the KI was coming from the blonde boy. Naruto's bangs were covering his eyes and his right arm was extended, his palm aimed at Kiba's chest.

"Never, ever talk that way about my friends, especially my teammates. And insulting the Hokage means you're not entirely loyal to the village, though I'm sure you didn't mean it that way," Naruto finally raised his head and looked in Kiba's eyes with a no-nonsense facial expression "Never decide the outcome of the mission before it's actually finished. Never judge people by their appearance or marks in school. Deception is a ninja's greatest tool and you, Kiba, should have known that."

Naruto lowered his hand and along with that, Kiba fell to the ground. The KI instantly vanished.

"You can come out, Kurenai-san," Naruto said, after a brief silence.

Said woman appeared from behind the corner with a crutch under her arm.

"He deserved it," she said, as she approached team 7. She glanced at Kiba."How many times have I've said not to judge people by first looks or impressions? How many times have I repeated to you to think about what you say?"

"Well, no harm's done," Naruto said. "I can understand why he thinks so though."

"I hope it's alright that Hokage-sama sent us," Kakashi remarked.

"Seeing for myself what they can do, it's perfectly fine," Kurenai answered, and smirked. "I still remember how your genin humiliated you."

Kakashi hung his head. "I'll never hear the end of it."

"Humiliated?" Kiba asked when he finally stood up. His back still hurt. He moved over to the table and sat down in his previous place, still a bit angry.

"It's a story for another time," Kurenai replied.

Naruto noticed the cracks on the wall and smiled sheepishly. "Sorry about that," he apologized to Tazuna.

"Nahh, it's alright. If I can build bridges, I can surely repair some wooden wall."

"Let's take a seat and I'll quickly debrief you," Kurenai offered.

"I'll make some tea for our new guests then," Tsunami said and disappeared further into the kitchen.

Team 7 and Kurenai found some chairs and sat down at the table. Kiba and Shino remained in their places and waited for the debriefing to start, each thinking how Naruto could throw Kiba back with a single wave of his hand.

"_He must have learned new tricks," _Kiba thought dryly. _"We will show him his place later, Akamaru."_

"By the way, where's Hinata? She's on your team, right?" Sakura asked.

"That's right," Shino answered. "She was injured on our way here, and is now resting upstairs."

"I hope it's nothing serious," Naruto said.

"She'll be fine," Kurenai promised. "One or two days and she'll be like new. She is a tough girl, though she herself doesn't realize it."

After a brief silence, Kurenai started the debriefing "This was supposed to be a simple C ranked escort mission. Our client was Tazuna-san here. On our way to Nami no Kuni, we were ambushed by two C and B ranked nuke-nin, marked as the Demon Brothers."

"Demon brothers?" Sasuke asked.

"Two brothers, missing ninja from Kirigakure. Became missing-nin after stealing some important jutsu scrolls and information from Kiri and fleeing the country," Naruto explained.

"Both of them are chuunin and always work in pairs. Before defecting from Kiri, one of the brothers was a C ranked ninja whereas the other was B ranked," Sakura finished in explanation.

"Which means the mission was automatically raised to at least a B-rank," Kakashi stated. "Did Tazuna-san here know about these missing-nin? It's quite strange that you were ambushed so close to the Konoha. It's also strange that it was you and no one else."

"In fact, yes, he knew," Kurenai said, as she shot a small glare towards Tazuna. "When I questioned him, he revealed to us that he was targeted by Gato. Gato is-"

Kakashi interrupted her. "Sorry, but don't bother telling us about Gato and why the bridge is so important. Tsunami-san already told us that."

"Right. I'll skip that, then," Kurenai replied "Tazuna-san didn't know that Gato had hired some mercenary ninja, but he had his suspicions. So he decided to hire some ninja as well. The country doesn't have it's own ninja village so they had to ask for help from their neighbors, and Konoha was the closest ninja village. But, as you have probably seen, the country is very poor and doesn't have any funds to pay for a high ranking mission so they had to lie. When those missing-nin showed up on the mission, as you mentioned, was automatically upgraded to at least a B-rank. Thanks to my genjutsu, Shino's bugs and Kiba's taijutsu, we were able to quickly defeat them."

"What about Hinata?" Sasuke asked.

"As sad as it sounds, she was petrified from fear at facing enemy ninja. It happens to all rookies," Kurenai answered.

"_Didn't happen to us though,"_ Naruto thought.

After hearing that much, Kakashi asked "After learning the truth, why did you continue?"

"Tazuna-san here made my genin pity him, and they insisted on carrying on the mission. At the very last moment, I agreed and thought that we won't face any stronger enemies. I was ready though, and kept my guard up. I also sent a message to Hokage-sama with a request for back-up."

"I see. What happened next?"

"Then..." Kurenai sighed and lowered her head "Then we were ambushed by Zabuza Momoichi."

Team 7's eyes widened. "Zabuza Momochi?!"

Kurenai nodded sadly. "Yes. Zabuza Momochi, a high A-rank missing ninja of Kirigakure, former ANBU. Thanks to Kiba's wish to prove himself, we managed to survive the surprise attack. While my genin protected Tazuna-san, I was dealing with Zabuza. The former Kiri ninja used Kiri's famous jutsu – Kirigakure no Jutsu. It was easy to dodge his attacks, but it was almost impossible to launch a counterattack."

"How did you defeat him?" Sasuke asked.

"For one moment, he abandoned me and went for my genin and Tazuna-san. Thanks to Hinata's byakugan, Hinata noticed the attack before anyone else. She didn't have time to warn anyone, so she pushed Kiba and Shino aside, thus saving them from a lethal blow."

"Wow. I never thought she could be that brave." Sakura replied.

Kurenai nodded again. "I was surprised as well. But," there always were that 'but'. "By saving Kiba and Shino, she got in the way of Zabuza's sword, and received a nasty injury. Zabuza was also quite surprised by the girl's bravery and I used that one moment of surprise to trap Zabuza in a heavy genjutsu."

"Did you kill him?" Naruto asked.

"No."

"What?!" Kakashi exclaimed. "Why?"

Kurenai sighed again. "I didn't have a chance. The moment I put the genjutsu on him, a Kiri hunter-nin appeared and killed Zabuza by throwing some senbon needles in man's throat. Or so I thought."

"What do you mean, sensei? You said you killed him," Kiba asked, confused.

"I thought so at the beginning. I thought about it very hard yesterday and realized that first," She raised one finger, "senbon needles are not used to kill a person." now a second finger was raised, "Secondly, the hunter-nin should have beheaded Zabuza right there on the spot, not take him away, despite the fact that ninja from other villages were nearby."

"But you checked his pulse! He was dead!" Kibble objected.

"Senbon needles, you say?" Sakura asked, and after Kurenai nodded, she continued, "I've read somewhere that when using senbon needles and striking at the right pressure points with them on the human body, it's possible to put said human in a near death state. It means that the person will seem dead, even the pulse, when actually he's quite alive."

"Correct, Sakura," Kurenai said with a smile "But there's downside, though."

"What kind of downside?" Naruto asked.

Kakashi took up from where Kurenai ended. "If someone is put in a near death state, then it will take about a week or a bit more to fully recover."

"Which means that we will encounter Zabuza and the fake hunter-nin again in about a week," Shino concluded.

Kurenai nodded. This situation was very serious. "Let's not forget about the Demon Brothers. They most probably went back to Gato."

"Which means we are up against Zabuza Momoichi, a high A-ranked nuke-inn, a fake hunter-nin with unknown abilities, C and B-ranked brothers, and Gato with his goons," Naruto mused. "I suppose we won't be as lucky as in our previous mission, right, Kakashi?"

Kakashi shook his head. Both Kiba and Shino wondered why Naruto didn't call him sensei. They also wondered why Kakashi didn't say anything about it. Even Kurenai didn't mention it.

"What's our course of action?" Kurenai asked Kakashi.

Kakashi thought about it, occasionally glancing at his team and Kurenai's team. He finally answered, "Once the time comes, the genins will handle the Demon Brothers and the fake hunter-nin, while we will handle Zabuza. That way we can finish him off quickly before assisting the genie."

Kiba, being impulsive and brash as always, said, "Are you sure that's the wisest course of action? We barely managed to fight off those Demon Brothers, we won only because they didn't expect much of a fight. This time they will be more prepared and more dangerous. And let's throw in that hunter-nin. I don't think three more genins will make any difference."

Naruto couldn't understand what Kiba's problem was. Why was he so against them? Kiba was so out of character from the moment they announced that team 7 is their back up. Naruto thought that Kiba would be the first one to jump into danger despite how strong the enemies were. It seemed his first two real fights made him realize that it's not a game. Kiba must had realized that one mistake might cost him his life and probably even the lives of his teammates.

Fortunately, Shino came to the rescue, being logical as always. The boy put a hand on Kiba's shoulder and said calmly. "Kiba, we don't even know what team 7 is capable of. It would be logical if we could find out about their abilities before making any decisions. Our chances for victory would be much greater if we work as a team."

"Yeah, Kiba. You don't even know what we are capable of," Naruto added.

Kiba scoffed. "I still think there won't be much difference."

"Kakashi," Sasuke called his team leader. Kiba and Shino noticed that Sasuke didn't call him sensei and no one said anything about it. "What about if we-" he abruptly stopped and looked at Kurenai. He then asked, "Kurenai-san. How serious are your injuries?"

Kurenai frowned, but answered nonetheless. "Nothing serious. I'll be alright by tomorrow or the day after tomorrow. Why?"

"Kakashi, what do you think about a sparring match? You and Kurenai-san versus me, Naruto and Sakura? Full strength." Sasuke asked.

Kakashi beamed at the idea. You could actually see stars in his one visible eye. Naruto and Sakura were surprised about this request.

"But Sasuke," Naruto objected "What about 'revealing our full abilities during the chuunin exam'?"

"If we want to successfully complete this mission with minimum injuries or casualties, then we will need to show Kurenai-san's team what we are capable of. It will shut Kiba up so he won't cry anymore about failing this mission," Kiba's face became red at this statement but he was wisely keeping his mouth shut. Sasuke continued, "Hopefully, it will also inspire them to work and train harder in the future."

"That's actually brilliant, Sasuke," Sakura happily commented.

"Yeah," Naruto agreed. "Hopefully after the display of our strength, they will be more than eager to work with us. The less hate and distrust between our teams, especially Kiba, the better we'll work together."

And Kakashi finished "AND maybe after the sparring match, they could learn something from you!"

Naruto sweat-dropped. "Erm, no, Kakashi. We won't teach them anything, but we'll be more than happy to provide them with some pointers, right?"

Sakura and Sasuke nodded, though the former did so reluctantly.

Kiba was so red from either anger or embarrassment, no one knew which one, and he angrily thought, _"They talk like they're sure they'll win. And Kakashi is behaving like it may just happen. I bet those idiots won't be able to even leave a scratch on Kurenai-sensei and Kakashi-san."_

"So what about it, Kurenai-san?" Sakura asked eagerly.

Kurenai smiled. "I would be more than happy. Let's do it the day after tomorrow. I'll be perfectly fine by then. I'm really eager to see Sakura's genjutsu and some of team 7's _unique_ skills."

"It's settled then," Kakashi said. "I also think that starting after the sparring, we'll need to train your team a bit, Kurenai. We need to make them ready for their fight."

Kurenai nodded. "What about your genin?"

"They can take care of themselves," Kakashi replied "Unless they need my help." Kakashi looked at his genin and they simultaneously shook their heads. "Thought so. Well, now that everything's decided, what should we do?"

Kiba just stood up from his place and left the dining room, going upstairs. "What's his problem?" Kakashi asked.

Kurenai shrugged. "Don't know. Maybe everything that happened is catching up to him. Well, I'm going to check on Hinata."

"I'll go with you, Kurenai-san," Sakura said as both women stood up and left the dining room, both chatting about something. Probably about genjutsu, Kakashi thought.

"I'll go and lay down for a bit," Sasuke said "I need to think about something. Tazuna-san, can you show me my room please?"

"Right this way," Tazuna said, leading the way.

"What about you, Naruto?" Kakashi asked.

"I'll go and check the area. Maybe ask some animals in the forest if they know anything," Naruto replied and stood up.

Kakashi nodded "Don't be late getting back, please."

Naruto smirked, and replied cheekily as he left the room. "Yes, mom."

When Naruto left the house, he gazed into the poor city and thought sadly, _"This is going to be a long week..."_

* * *

END!

I hope you liked the chapter. Sorry for the shortness though.

Next chapter - some Itachi, Alicia entering Konoha and meeting Hokage, some Orochimaru and Kabuto, and of course, team 7 vs Kakashi and Kurenai fight.


End file.
